Locket

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The earliest jewelry made and owned in America was of a sentimental nature, related either to courtship and marriage or to death and mourning. In this heart-shaped locket, a faceted crystal was secured to the gold back by a crimped, scalloped edge. Beneath the glass, a tightly woven plait of light brown hair, a common addition to mourning jewelry, was laid onto a silk background. An engraved skull appears on the reverse, along with the death date of the deceased, whose identity remains unknown.

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