Tester bed
Category
Furniture
Date
1760 - 1820
Materials
Mahogany, oak, pine, wood, textile, metal, brass and paper
Order this imageCollection
Dunham Massey, Cheshire (Accredited Museum)
NT 931178
Summary
A tester bedstead, a Sanderson print textile (non-collection) attached to the head section, with: (a) two George III mahogany reeded column foot posts with carved, overlapping long leaves; on a square base with additional moulding around the foot; (b) mahogany foot board with curved top, hinge marks and brass sliding catches; handwritten on a historic paper label stuck to the reverse of the board is ‘out of Bedroom / North of long / Drawing room / No. 5’; (c) two square, tapering, oak head posts with additional moulding around the foot and mahogany veneer from the point at which the side and end rails are bolted to the post, downwards. Each post has a pine fillet attached with which to retain the headboard; (d) rectangular pine headboard with tack marks; (e) two oak end rails with shaped underside and central cut-out for central strengthening beam; (.ii) features a pair of black-painted hinges to which to attach the foot board; (f) two heavy oak side rails, each with shaped underside, slat inserts along one side and two wooden castors on black-painted metal legs; (g) oak central strengthening beam, slightly bowed, with section cut away at each end where the beam is inserted into the two end rails. There is evidence along the top edge of where the bed slats would have rested and the beam also has a historic handwritten paper label stuck to it, reading ‘Bedroom north / of big Drawing / room / No. 5’.
Provenance
Stamford collection; devised to the National Trust by Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford (1896-1976).