Embroidered coverlet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This linen coverlet is embroidered with multicolored wools in satin stitch, long and short stitch, buttonhole stitch, stem stitch, and a variety of filling stitches. It is composed of four panels, each about 371/430 inches, with a band of twelve small pieces stitched together along the top. Each large panel is embroidered with flowering trees of life, upon which birds are perched. The piece is backed and bordered by new, machine-stitched linen.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art