Antique Bedstead
I have in my library several good books on old furniture, and when I look them over I am discouraged by the breadth of the subject. It is utterly impossible, in the compass of three or four chapters, to treat of every kind of old furniture likely to come under the observation of the amateur collector. Therefore I am obliged to omit those which seem to me to be of minor importance.
I know a chapter will be expected on high-boys and low-boys, and the "chests of drawers" that were so useful in early American homes. I think, how-ever, that a study of the other classes of old furniture that I have considered will make the path of the be-ginner easier for the rest. The styles followed closely those shown in old chairs and tables. The cabriole legs, the ball-and-claw feet, the straight legs, were all contemporaneous with chairs having the same features. Oak, walnut, cherry, mahogany, and other woods were used, as in other old furniture, and about the same ratio in values is to be found. I think it will be wiser to take up other subjects, but I cannot pass on without a word in praise of the beauty of these old cabinets, nor would I have my readers suppose that I pass them by as of little con-sequence.
Before leaving the subject of old furniture, how-ever, I must dwell for a little on the subject of old bedsteads, for although their size and high value make them less common possessions, a study of other kinds of old furniture gives a slighter clue to them than to high-boys and sofas. Even the early nineteenth-century bedsteads are rare and valuable, and, if your house is large enough to accommodate them, you may well aspire to own one or two. While there are few, if any, seventeenth-century bedsteads now in existence in this country, it may not be uninteresting to consider for a moment the styles that were made in England during that period, and that were used by the wealthier families in this country.
After the huge built-in beds of earlier days there came into vogue in Europe a movable bed that was set in the middle of the chamber and was heavily curtained to protect the sleeper from drafts. These curtains and draperies persisted long after the real need for them had disappeared. This cumbersome affair gave place to something like the four-poster, that was developed during the Tudor period into a massive bedstead of carved and paneled oak, with posts, head-boards, and testers.
Oak continued popular through the seventeenth century. During the Stuart period four-posters were sometimes made without the canopy, though this remained in general favor until the middle of the last century. Jacobean bedsteads, like those of the Stuart period, were of oak, but carving gave place to paneling, and the use of moldings became general. Walnut became the most popular wood in Queen Anne's day, and, as in the case of chairs, the Dutch influence began to be felt more strongly. The cabriole leg and ball-and-claw foot appeared, together with the broken-arch cornice on the head-boards. The parts were held together with wooden bolts or pegs, and the side pieces were pierced with holes for the ropes which served in lieu of springs.
A few of these Queen Anne bedsteads may be in existence in this country, though I have never seen any. It is doubtful, however, if any of the earlier oak bedsteads are to be found. Nevertheless, there were undoubtedly some used here, though they were large and hard to transport. Especially in Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas, these English bed-steads were used in the homes of the wealthy planters. During the last half of the seventeenth century they were not uncommon in the better homes in the North.
Most of our Northern forefathers, however, were content with something much more simple. Many of the bedsteads were merely frames, usually furnished, however, with curtains and valances. The beds or mattresses were stuffed with feathers, hair, hay, straw, or chopped rags, and must frequently have been placed directly on the floor. A few cupboard or press-beds were also in use, designed to be pushed into a closet, or built in a curtained alcove. Rude couches or settles, called couch-beds, were also used.
The oldest kind of bedstead you can hope to run across is the walnut Queen Anne. The chances are, however, that your experiences will be confined to those dating no farther back than 1750, when four-posters of an early Georgian type became fairly common in this country. These were more lightly constructed than formerly, with slender turned posts. Those made in England were usually elaborately carved, those made here generally plainer. Even to-ward the latter part of the century plain posts were common, depending upon draperies to cover them. These were round, square, or octagonal. The bed-stead at Mount Vernon in which Washington died has perfectly plain turned posts. The head-boards were plain, and were intended to be concealed by draperies. It might be added that you will probably never find two four-posters exactly alike, unless they are twin-beds. The beds were made on laced cords, covered with heavy canvas, as springs were not used until well into the nineteenth century. Many were narrow-not over four feet wide-though most were broader. Mahogany, cypress, sycamore, maple, cherry, Virginia walnut, cedar, ash, elm, pine, poplar, and hickory were all used to a greater or less extent.