I’m looking for a four poster bed. Most of the antique ones are too small for modern mattresses so how do they fit/modernize? Do I just have to build a new one?
Ah, the four poster bed. No other type of bed can match its sense of glamour, opulence and sheer romance. When I think of four poster beds, the beds that immediately come to mind are some of my favorite historic pieces of furniture.
First I go straight to Cecil Beaton’s circus bed, a gilded confection complete with twisted columns, a shell-shaped headboard and, at its base, a prancing seahorse, unicorn and dolphins. Beaton commissioned this bed for himself, for his first country house, Ashcombe in Wiltshire. It was, if I remember correctly, made by a company that specializes in fairground attractions.
A few years ago, this perfectly flamboyant piece of furniture was recreated by Tisbury’s Beaudesert Ltd for an exhibition at the Salisbury Museum, Cecil Beaton at home: Ashcombe and Reddish.
Then there’s the state bed designed for the Green Velvet Bedchamber at Houghton Hall in Norfolk by William Kent (visitors can still see it). This is a bed to end all beds: a towering high-rise of a thing, decked out in green velvet and silver embroidery, braid, rosettes and fringe.
Cecil Beaton’s “perfectly flashy” circus bed © George Hoyningen-Huene/Condé Nast/Shutterstock
(The bill for said ornaments survives and shows that the London partnership of Walter Turner, Richard Hill and Robert Pitter was paid more than £1,200 for them – a substantial sum of money in 1732.) Its crowning glory is a huge Venus in gilt wood shell headboard. Clearly I have a type.
Last but not least in my trio: the fabric covered canopy at Dumfries House in Scotland. Following the rescue of the house and its contents by the then HRH the Prince of Wales, Carvers & Gilders of London were commissioned to restore “the best bed in Dumfries House” to Thomas Chippendale’s original 18th century design , completing the project in 2018.
The complete appearance, with the entire bed upholstered in blue silk damask (specially woven by the Suffolk company Humphries Weaving), is a striking feat of craftsmanship and beauty.
Now, regarding the purchase of an antique bed. May I please direct you to an informative piece written by antiques dealer Luke Honey for Homes & Antiques magazine. He mentions the purchase of “a Regency/William IV mahogany four-poster bed (as found),” as described in the auction house’s catalogue. Honey spent an afternoon glueing the bed together with a friend (and more importantly, a fellow tradesman), before realizing that he would have to custom-commission a mattress to fit.
A standard modern mattress will rarely fit an antique bed, but many companies will make a new one in any size (consider Victorian Dreams, for example). This doesn’t quite solve the problem of many antique beds that aren’t big enough for contemporary needs in the first place, although a carpenter could make adjustments.
The key issue, as Honey writes, is that there are many potential hidden costs associated with buying an antique canopy bed, so be careful, but don’t delay. After all, I agree with him: it’s a real pleasure to sleep in an old bed.
It also depends on the style of canopy bed you would like to choose. As much as I love an antique mahogany number, I also love a more bespoke, 60s-style approach. This is the route I took when I commissioned Beaudesert to make my bed a few years ago, inspired by David Hicks. My bed is also completely upholstered in fabric, but the structure is simple (no decorative carving à la Dumfries): this concept is all in the choice of fabric. Commissioning a new bed will allow you to choose the size you want. Our bed, when it arrived, was the perfect size for our existing mattress.
State bed designed by William Kent at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, circa 1732 © Victoria and Albert Museum
Dealer and designer Max Rollitt makes beautiful antique-inspired beds. He’s got his walnut country bed, inspired by a military country bed by specialty maker Thomas Butler. I especially love its elegant curved brass frame. Rollitt beds are made to order and require full specifications and fabrics, sofas and mattresses can also be supplied. (Speaking of fabrics, how to dress a canopy bed needs a whole other column and a lot of research on my part.)
Finally, I followed on Instagram the restoration and decoration of a very old house in Launceston, Cornwall by curator Simon Costin. He had an imposing four-poster bed made using pieces of antique sideboards and wardrobes. Sculpted and reconfigured by Ecoism Manufacturing Limited, the fragments have been stained to match and will be styled with a handmade mattress and curtains.
Along with Beaton’s fairground bed, this highly inspiring project just proves that if you’re willing to use your imagination (and feel up to the task), your fabulous custom-made dream bed is waiting for you.
If you have a question for Luke about design and stylish living, email him at lukeedward.hall@ft.com. Follow him on Instagram @lukeedwardhall
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