This chair was purchased by the donor from Knoll's New York City showroom for her New York home around 1968 or 1969. It, along with three others, served as kitchen chairs for more than twenty years and were actively used for multiple tabletop activities such as dining, homework, and coffee conversations. As the mother of young children, she was attracted to the simplicity and practicality of the chair's design; sticky fingerprints easily washed off, and they seemed impervious to constant use.

This chair was purchased by the donor from Knoll's New York City showroom for her New York home around 1968. It, along with three others, served as kitchen chairs for more than twenty years and were actively used for multiple activities, such as dining, homework, and coffee conversations. As the mother of young children, the donor was attracted to the simplicity and practicality of the chairs' design: sticky fingerprints were easily washed off, and they were almost impervious to constant use.

Just prior to 1800, a new American furniture form--the work table--emerged to accommodate the specific needs of women. These small tables typically housed sewing tools in an upper drawer and needlework projects in a fabric bag or compartment below. This table belonged to Martha Pintard (b. ca. 1762), who married Samuel Bayard around 1790. Judging from the extensive wear to its drawers and multiple replacements of the sewing bag, the table was heavily used by Mrs. Bayard as well as succeeding generations of women in the Bayard and Dod families.

This object was once part of the folk art collection of Elie Nadelman (1882-1946), the avant-garde sculptor. From 1924 to 1934, Nadelman's collection was displayed in his Museum of Folk Arts, located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. The Historical Society purchased Nadelman's entire collection in 1937.

This work table is nearly identical to a worktable in a private collection labeled by Duncan Phyfe and dated August, 1820.

This imposing clock was supposedly given by Alexander Hamilton to the Bank of New York in 1797 and was presented to the New-York Historical Society by the bank in 1858. The sixteen stars inlaid under the face of the clock suggest it was made in 1796. A similar clock in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, given by Alexander Hamilton to a bank in Philadelphia, bears the name of Robert Joyce, a clockmaker who worked in New York City in 1796 and 1797.