ONE of the most valuable pieces of furniture in the household of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was the bedstead with its belongings. Bedsteads and beds occupy a large space in inventories, and their valuation was often far more than that of any other article in the inventory, sometimes more than all the others. In spite of the great value placed upon them, none have survived to show us exactly what was meant by the “oak Marlbrough bedstead” or the “half-headed bedstead” in early inventories. About the bedstead up to 1750 we know only what these inventories tell us, but the inference is that bedsteads similar to those in England at that time were also in use in the colonies. The greater portion of the value of the bedstead lay in its furnishings,—the hangings, feather bed, bolster, quilts, blankets, and coverlid,—the bedstead proper, when inventoried separately, being placed at so low a sum that one concludes it must have been extremely plain.

Several cradles made in the seventeenth century are still in existence. Illustration 51 shows one which is in Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth, and which is said to have sheltered Peregrine White, the first child born in this country to the Pilgrims. It is of wicker and of Oriental manufacture, having been brought from Holland upon the Mayflower, with the Pilgrims.

The cradle in Illustration 52 is of more substantial build. It is of oak, and was made for John Coffin, who was born in Newbury, January 8, 1680. Sergeant Stephen Jaques, “who built the meeting house with great needles and little needles pointing downward,” fashioned this cradle, whose worn rockers bear witness to the many generations of babies who have slept within its sturdy frame. It is now in the rooms of the Newburyport Historical Society.

Another wooden cradle is in Pilgrim Hall, made of oak and very similar, with the turned spindles at the sides of its wooden hood, to a cradle dated 1691, in the South Kensington Museum.

“Cupboard bedsteads” and “presse bedsteads” are mentioned in the inventories. They were probably the same as the Dutch “slaw-bank,” and when not in use they were fastened up against the wall in a closet made to fit the bed, and the closet doors were closed or curtains were drawn over the bedstead. There is a slaw-bank in the old Sumner house in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, built in 1797.

Illustration 53 shows a curious bedstead made about 1750, when it was used by Dr. Samuel Johnson, president of King’s College, New York. It is now owned by his descendant, Mrs. Johnson-Hudson of Stratford, Connecticut. The slanting back of the bedstead is like the back of an early Chippendale chair, and the effect is similar to that of the couches shown in Illustration 205 and Illustration 206; but this piece was evidently intended for a bed, as it is considerably wider than the couches, which were “day beds.” The wood of this bedstead is mahogany. The commode which stands beside the bed is of a slightly later date. It is also of mahogany, with massive brass handles.

Illustration 54 shows a bedstead of about 1760-1770. It is what was called a field bed, the form of its top suggesting a tent. The frames for the canopy top were made in different shapes, but the one in the illustration was most common. The drapery is made of the netted fringe so much used in those days for edging bedspreads, curtains, and covers. This deep fringe was made especially for canopy tops for bedsteads. Its manufacture has been revived by several Arts and Crafts Societies. The slat-back chair is one of the rush-bottomed variety common during the eighteenth century. This room, with its wooden rafters, is in the Whipple house at Ipswich, built in 1650.

The claw-and-ball foot bedstead in Illustration 55 was a part of the wedding outfit of Martha Tufts, who was married in 1774, in Concord. It was then hung with the printed cotton draperies, hand spun and woven, which still hang from the tester, albeit much darned and quite dropping apart with age. The draperies are of a brownish color, possibly from age, but at all events they are now dingy and unattractive, whatever they may have been in 1774. The posts above the cabriole legs are small and plain, and there is no headboard. The wood is mahogany. This bedstead is now owned by the Concord Antiquarian Society. Although Chippendale’s designs do not show a bedstead with claw-and-ball feet, he probably did make such bedsteads, and this may be called Chippendale, as it belongs to that period.

A bedstead with plain, simple posts, with the cover and hangings of old netting, is shown in Illustration 56. There is a good comb-back Windsor arm-chair and a mahogany cradle of the period in the room, which is a bedroom in the Lee Mansion, Marblehead, Mass.

A splendid bedstead found in Charleston, S. C., and now owned by J. J. Gilbert, Esq., of Baltimore, is shown in Illustration 57. All four posts are carved and reeded, and are after the manner of Chippendale. The tester and headboard show the Adam influence, placing the date of the bedstead about 1770.

Illustration 58 shows a bedstead made from one of Hepplewhite’s designs, about 1789. The lower posts are slender and fluted, and end in a square foot.

The cornice is japanned after the fashion which Hepplewhite made so popular, and the style in which this bedstead is draped is extremely attractive. It is at Indian Hill, the residence of the late Major Ben Perley Poore.

The four-post bedsteads had sometimes canvas stretched across the frame and laced with ropes, similar to the seat of the couch in Illustration 206, and in other cases they were corded entirely with ropes. Mrs. Vanderbilt in her “Social History of Flatbush” thus describes the process of cording a bed: “It required a man’s strength to turn the machine that tightened the ropes, in cording these beds when they were put together. Some one was stationed at each post to keep it upright, while a man was exhausting his strength and perhaps his stock of patience and good temper, in getting the ropes sufficiently tight to suit the wife or mother. When the bedstead was duly corded and strung to the tension required, then a straw bed, in a case of brown home-made linen, was first placed over these cords, and upon this were piled feather beds to the number of three or four, and more if this was the spare-room bed.” The height of the top one of these feather beds from the floor was so great that steps were required to mount into it, and sets of mahogany steps are sometimes found now, which were made for this purpose. A set is shown in Illustration 64.

Illustration 59 shows one of the finest bedsteads known in this country. It is in the house of Charles R. Waters, Esq., of Salem. The two lower posts are exquisitely carved with garlands of flowers, and every detail is beautiful; the upper posts are plain. The size of the posts is somewhat larger than during the previous years, and the style of the lower part with the fluted leg would place the date of the bedstead about 1795-1800, when the influence of Sheraton was strong. The cornice is painted with flowers in colors, and the painted band is framed in gilt; the ornaments at the corners, the basket with two doves, and the ropes and tassels are all of gilt.

About 1800, when the Empire styles commenced to influence the makers of furniture, the posts of bedsteads became larger, and they were more heavily carved, with acanthus leaves twining around the post, or a heavy twist or fluting, with pineapples at the top.

Illustration 60 shows a bedstead at Indian Hill, with the heavy posts and tester, the lower posts being fluted. The bedstead is draped on the side and foot with curtains which could be let down at night in cold weather, thus shutting out the bitter draughts. The coverlid for this bed is made of linen, spun and woven by hand, and embroidered in shades of blue with a quaint design. The easy-chair at the foot of the bed is covered with old chintz, printed in figures that would afford a child unlimited entertainment.

A bedstead with massive twisted posts is shown in Illustration 61. The lower posts only are carved, as was usual, the draperies at the head of the bed concealing the plain upper posts. Twisted posts were quite common during the early years of the nineteenth century, and more bedposts are found that are carved in a twist than in any other design. The coverlid is similar to the one in Illustration 63. This bedstead stands in one of the panelled rooms of the Warner house in Portsmouth.

Illustration 62 shows a fine example of the four-post bedstead made from 1805 to 1810. It is unusual in having all four posts carved, and for its splendid feet, which are carved in massive lions’ claws.

Each post is carved with festoons of drapery, and is surmounted with a pineapple The headboard is elaborately carved with a basket of fruit. This mahogany bedstead is owned by Mrs. E. A. Morse of Worcester.

Illustration 63 shows another bedstead with all four mahogany posts carved in the acanthus leaf and pineapple design. Each post is finished at the top with a pineapple, and the bases are set into brass sockets. Upon the plain sections of the posts may be seen pressed brass ornaments, of which there are six, two for each lower post and one for each upper one. These ornaments cover the holes through which the bed-screws are put in to hold the frame together.

There is a headboard of simple design upon this bedstead. The coverlid is an old, handspun and woven, cotton one, with a design of stars in little cotton tufts. Such coverlids were made about 1815 to 1830. This bedstead is owned by the writer.

Illustration 64 shows a bed owned by the Colonial Dames, in their house, “Stenton,” in Philadelphia. It has the large, plain and heavy posts found in the South. The hangings are the original ones. Beside the bed is a set of steps used to assist in mounting to the top of the feather beds used in those days. The cradle is of about the same date.

Illustration 65 shows a low-post mahogany bedstead which is owned by Dr. S. B. Woodward of Worcester, having been inherited by him. It was made about 1825. The four posts are carved with the acanthus leaf, and both head and foot board are elaborately carved. It can be seen that the bed in this illustration is not so high from the floor as those of earlier date. The low French bedstead became fashionable soon after this time, and the high four-poster was relegated to the attic, from which it has of late years been rescued, and set up, draped with all of its old-time hangings.

The latest style of low-post bedsteads is shown Illustration 66. It was probably made about 1820-1830, when the light woods, maple and birch, were, with cherry, largely used for such bedsteads. The wood of this bed is curly birch, and all four posts are carved alike with the pineapple and acanthus design, similar to the tall posts of the previous period. Low-post bedsteads are often found with posts plainly turned, of curly maple, beautifully marked.

Illustration 67 shows a low French bedstead, found in Canada and owned by George Corbett, Esq., of Worcester. The bedstead is made of finely grained old walnut, the rounding top of the head and foot boards and the face of the large drawer under the footboard being veneered. This drawer may have been intended to use to keep blankets in. It has a little foot so that it remains firm when pulled out. At each side of the low bed is a carved shell, which slides out, showing a covered rest, perhaps for kneeling upon to pray. Both the head and foot boards are covered with canvas, which was probably, when the bedstead was new, about 1830, covered with a rich brocade. All the lines of the bedstead are most graceful, and the carving is unusually well done. Plainer bedsteads in this style were made, veneered with mahogany, and they are sometimes called sleigh beds, on account of their shape. These bedsteads were fashionable from 1830 to 1850, when they were superseded by the black walnut bedsteads familiar to everybody.

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