Pulpit from Metropolitan AME

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A pulpit from the Metropolitan AME Church, consisting of a hollow, three-sided structure composed of multiple pieces of wood that show different techniques, ages, and varnishes. The front of the pulpit features two arches separated by a piece of wood and framed by thin columns on either side. The wood is smooth and varnished with a light resin through which the wood grain is still visible. The cornices at the top and bottom of the columns are similar in style, with those on the bottom heavier due to extra supporting wood. There are small juts of wood in the interior suggesting a shelf may have been in place inside the pulpit for holding objects. A small metal placard screwed to the front of the pulpit notes “This podium was built for Metropolitan AME Church formerly Union Bethel AME Church by John Simms 1838.”

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