Double bed
possibly Sidney Howard Barnsley (1865 - 1926)
Date
circa 1899
Materials
Ash, Oak
Measurements
128 x 136 x 210 cm
Collection
Stoneywell Cottage, Leicestershire
NT 1703449
Summary
An ash and oak double-bed frame, attributed to either Sidney Barnsley (1865-1926) or Ernest Barnsley (1863-1926), and possibly designed by Ernest Gimson (1864-1919), circa 1899. In 'wagon' style, and with open joinery, with arched footboard formed from both arched and straight rails, all stop-chamfered and with pegged joints, and backed by scallop-edged arched boards which descend to conceal the mattress. All between square-section end posts. The lower, arched footboard formed from three arched and one straight rail, all stop-chamfered and with pegged joints, and backed by two scallop-edged arched boards to conceal the mattress. All between square-section end posts, joined by a pegged stretcher rail. The posts all with applied trapezoidal blocks concealing joints. Later side rails and mattress.
Full description
This bed was made for Stoneywell Cottage, the home of Sydney (1860-1938) and Jeannie Gimson and their children. Designed by Ernest Gimson (1864-1919), Sydney's brother, and built by Detmar Blow (1867-1939), Stoneywell was finished in 1899, and it is believed that this bed was made then, or soon afterwards, by either Sidney (1865-1926) or Ernest Barnsley (1863-1926), close associates of Ernest Gimson - who may have designed the bed - and furniture designers and makers of the Arts & Crafts movement. Although we don't know for certain which of the Barnsley brothers made the bed, we do know that it cost £9 (the house itself cost £920 to build) and was made to furnish Sydney and Jeannie Gimson's master bedroom. Originally, it stood away from the wall, which perhaps accounts for the scallop-edged boards behind the headboard which hide the mattress from view. Its arched and stop-chamfered rails and open, visible joinery chime with the open, arched trusses of the room's ceiling, a naturalistic and organic syncronicity typical of the Arts & Crafts movement. In 1911, Country Life described the bed as 'admirably made...and eminently fitted to its surroundings.' The stop-chamfering to the rails and stretchers which creates 'nodes', reminiscent of branches, the arched rails to the headboard and footboard, and the open joinery, are typical of furniture produced by both Sidney and Ernest Barnsley from around 1895. The bed stood in the master bedroom at Stoneywell until it was given away in 1953. It returned to Stoneywell in 2023.
Provenance
Believed to have been made circa 1899 and photographed in situ in the master bedroom at Stoneywell Cottage in 1911 where in use until removed from the house in 1953. Returned as a gift in 2023.
Makers and roles
possibly Sidney Howard Barnsley (1865 - 1926), maker possibly Ernest Barnsley (1863 - 1926), maker possibly Ernest Gimson (1864 - 1919), designer