Church pew from the Twelfth Baptist Church of Boston

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.

The bench is varnished with a dark brown paint that is chipped in several places, revealing a lighter, golden brown grained wood underneath. The right panel of the pew is carved with a simple design and consists of one solid piece of wood while the left panel is made of three separate panels of wood. There are nails protruding and cracks in the wood where the seat and backrest of the pew are joined to the left panel. Spaced evenly along the top of the backrest are five metal oval plates carved with numbers. On the back of the backrest, at the center, are four nail holes placed in a rectangular formation where a hymn book rack was most likely once attached.

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