The Peabody Essex Museum collection offers outstanding works primarily from the 1700s to today: consisting of paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, textiles, architecture and decorative objects. PEM’s 1.8 million works (many of them the first to be collected in the U.S.) including African, American, Asian, maritime, Native American and Oceanic art, emphasize the lively conversation that occurs through creativity across time, place and culture. More than two centuries of collecting have produced the finest and most comprehensive assemblage of art and objects relating to maritime history in the country; other highlights include the paintings, furniture, folk art, needlework, toys and costumes that represent over 300 years of New England culture.