Furniture
The New-York Historical Society's furniture holdings number more than 500 objects, including seating furniture, tables, case furniture, cradles, clocks and boxes ranging from a late seventeenth century Dutch kast to a pair of 1960s Bertoia chairs. The earliest acquisition, a chair made for Marie Antoinette's private chambers at Versailles in 1779, was purchased by U.S. Minister to France Gouverneur Morris.
Highlights of the collection include George Washington's inaugural armchair and Valley Forge camp bed, a rococo carved Philadelphia high chest, ten pieces of furniture used by the first United States Congress at Federal Hall, a lady's cabinet dressing table owned in the Livingston family, the Abeel family French press made by French émigré Charles-Honoré Lannuier and the desk at which Clement Clarke Moore wrote "A Visit from St. Nicholas."
Silver and jewelry
The New-York Historical Society possesses one of the finest collections of early American silver in the nation, a trove of some 3,000 silver items. Many of these objects, which range from simple spoons to extravagant trophies, were family heirlooms donated by descendants of the original owners. Highlights include the magnificent salver (tray) made by the Swiss-born New York City silversmith Lewis Fueter in 1772 for presentation to British engineer Thomas Sowers, a 381-piece silver dinner service given to Commodore Matthew Perry for negotiating the opening of Japanese ports to United States trade, and the Tiffany & Co. controller handle used by Mayor George McClellan to operate the first New York City subway train on its maiden voyage in 1904.
Ceramics & Glass
The New-York Historical Society’s extensive holdings of ceramics and glass holdings reflect domestic use from the eighteenth century to the present day. New York stoneware is well represented, including early examples by Manhattan potters such as Clarkson Crolius, Sr. and Thomas Commeraw. The collection also includes significant holdings of English creamware for the American market, transfer-printed Staffordshire with New York views, and Chinese export porcelain. More recent acquisitions include twentieth century tableware