Embroidered bed curtain

Embroidered bed curtain

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A profusion of carefully organized motifs rendered in red wool thread appears on the cream-colored foundation of this bed curtain. The panel descended in the Clapp family, members of which emigrated from England to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1680. While the bed hangings may have been embroidered in the New World, the pattern was stamped on the fabric in England—the black ink outline is still visible.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Embroidered bed curtainEmbroidered bed curtainEmbroidered bed curtainEmbroidered bed curtainEmbroidered bed curtain

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.