The King's Bed
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1900
Materials
Giltwood, Paint, Silk
Measurements
157 x 157 x 207 cm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1166594
Summary
A painted and parcel-gilt double bed frame, English, late 19th/early 20th century, in the French manner. Painted in eau de nil and gilt, and with head- and foot-boards covered in silk with a pattern of floral sprays and curves. The arched headboard topped by a cresting of roses above rails carved with interlaced floral ribands and with acanthus-carved finials. This bed was occupied by King Edward VII on his visit to Polesden Lacey in 1909. The Liverpool Courier reported on the occasion that 'His Majesty enjoyed today from the windows of his suite of rooms at Polesden Lacey a view over the beautiful Dorking valley, which is unsurpassed in Surrey.' On the occasion of the honeymoon of the future George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1923, the bed - called 'The King's Bed' - featured in a picture in an article in the Illustrated London News.
Provenance
Date of acquisition not recorded, but probably during refurbishments complete in 1909 in time for the visit of Edward VII; bequeathed by Margaret McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1863-1942) with Polesden Lacey, to the National Trust, in memory of her father, William McEwan (1827-1913) in 1942.