I visited the American Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of many wings in this sprawling and impressive museum. The interiors I featured yesterday and today represent styles prevalent in the United States during the 19th century.

The first two pictures in this post are from the Worsham-Rockefeller Dressing Room. It was originally Arabella Worsham’s private dressing room in her New York townhouse, complete with built-in wardrobes, mirrors, dressing table, and cabinetry. It’s a fantastic example of the Aesthetic Movement, when designers argued that a room should be a unified work of art rather than simply a collection of expensive furniture. This room dates from 1881–1882, thirty years after the Rococo Revival Parlor I showed you yesterday. You can see how much design changed during that time.

The staircase below was physically located next to the dressing room at The Met but was not originally part of the townhouse. It is, however, another excellent example of the Aesthetic Movement and its belief that a room should be beautiful as a complete artistic environment.

I dabble in architecture and had never heard of the Aesthetic Movement. It was interesting to discover this missing link between the elaborate Victorian interiors and the simpler Arts and Crafts and Craftsman styles that followed.

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