Pelmet
Category
Textiles
Date
1700 - 1800
Materials
Hemp, Silk, Wool
Measurements
965 mm (H)2102 mm (W)298 mm (D)
Order this imageCollection
Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire
NT 1191281.1
Summary
One of a pair of shaped red damask curtain pelmets, en suite with state bed, constructed from a carved pine base covered with silk damask.
Provenance
This set matches the state bed in the same room (NT 1190812). Believed to be originally from Holme Lacy, the family home of the Scudamores (the Earls of Chesterfield) near Hereford (see Country Life 12.6.1909 for article on Holme Lacy including image of the bed). The contents of this house were sold through auction by the 10th Earl in 1910, with some items apparently bought by Lady Chesterfield's mother or agents working on her behalf. This set of pelmets and curtains was lot 370 and is recorded in the Hereford Times (5.2.1910) as having been purchased by a Mr Short for £150 (he also purchased the bed). In 1917, Lady Chesterfield purchased Beningbrough Hall and furnished it with items, including many that had been at Holme Lacy such as this bed and pelmets (see 1927 Country Life article and photographs). After Lady Chesterfield's death, both the bed and matching window curtains were amongst a small number of items purchased from the 1958 auction for transfer to the National Trust along with the house (accepted in lieu) by the Ministry of Works.