Beds In Good Stead
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday January 30, 1997
THERE was something different about the sheep pens on this particular country property in NSW. The fence rails had started life as brass-and-iron bedsteads.
This was a generation or so ago when you couldn't give away such Victorian antique beds.
Now, though, it's a different story. They have become so popular that look-alikes can be seen in most specialist bedding shops.
But people with their hearts set on an original can usually find one.
Rosemary Edgell Bush, proprietor of Grosvenor Antique Centre, Pacific Highway, Lindfield, said old brass-and-iron beds could look stunning with plain, modern furniture.
"The bed is probably the most atmospheric piece of furniture in the bedroom," she said. "It dictates what the rest of the room should look like."
The above tale of the sheep pens made of bedsteads was told in Antique Furniture in Australia, written by Anthony Hill and published in 1985.
"The farmer, alas, could never be persuaded to sell his interesting pens; though if he had, they would have returned a far better profit than his sheep for brass-and-iron beds are now eagerly sought after," Hill wrote.
Edgell Bush said the old bedsteads were so strong "they would have made a good fence".
A spectacular half-tester bed at the centre was made about 1880 in England. It's a double bed and it has a semicircular hooped canopy (tester) draped in satin-edged white voile.
The bedhead is high and the double-serpentine foot has seven porcelains patterned with mauve and white irises. It comes with connecting irons and costs $1,950.
Another Victorian bed has been extended to queen-size, and was made about 1860. The four porcelains are pink with rose designs, and there is a small diamond-cut, circular bevelled mirror on both head and foot. $1,950.
A single iron-and-brass bedstead, enamelled in black, was made about 30 or 40 years ago. It has connecting irons. $395.
There's a mahogany double bed at Grosvenor Antique Centre from about 1860 which has its original polish. It's elegant and quite plain by Victorian standards. $2,995.
Presumably, early man curled up on the floor with an animal skin for his bed. We can thank the Egyptians of the New Kingdom (circa 1567-1320BC) for burying treasures with their owners, because quite a lot of furniture has survived from that period.
Examples from the tomb of Tutankhamen, discovered in 1922 near Luxor, show that beds sloped towards the foot boards. Tutankhamen's beds were very high off the ground and mounting blocks would have been needed to reach them.
Because of the climate, linen was used sparingly. Strange crescent-shaped headrests acted as pillows.
Ancient Greek vases have paintings of banquets and show that the couch played an important part. Couches were used for both eating and sleeping.
On an Etruscan sarcophagus from around 500BC, a couple is shown reclining on a couch which has a mattress covered by a sheet, and two pillows.
For many centuries the bed was the most important piece of furniture in the house and was regarded as a status symbol.
In the medieval bed, cords from the ceiling supported the tester and the draperies that hung from it on all sides. Wood later became important in the bed's structure and there were carved pedestals, solid panelling and friezes.
The late 17th century saw bedposts soaring to great heights to suit increasingly lofty rooms.
Brass-and-iron beds arrived during the mid-19th century. Mattresses fitted with coil springs revolutionised bed comfort after Samuel Pratt patented his invention in 1828.
© 1997 Sydney Morning Herald