“In the best bed the Squire must lie,
And John in truckle bed hard by.”
The bed shown on Plate [IX.] is of the new style which lingered with a few changes far into the reign of Queen Anne. It is therefore a typical Jacobean or Stuart bed. The proportion is entirely different to that of the Tudor four-poster. The pillars, or supports, for the tester are taller, and the whole framework is of lighter build. This interesting specimen is still preserved at Knole, the home of the Sackvilles at Sevenoaks, Kent. Its hangings, tester, valance and counterpane are of crimson silk lined with satin and richly embroidered with gold and silver.
No. 1 on the same Plate shows the bed with light, spiral column that was also in use. The post is surmounted by an ornament, or knob, or bunch of feathers which, in France are called “pomme.”
This is the kind of bed which appears on Plate [III.], No. 3.
It will be noticed that there is no carving on this bed which depends for its elegance upon the richness of its furniture. At this period, green, yellow and crimson were the favourite colours for draping the bed. The materials chosen were silk damask, worsted damask, plain satin, silk, or serge, according to the wealth of the owner; and when it is remembered that the windows were hung with the same stuff, and the chairs, stools, cushions, table-carpets and cupboard cloth and cushions were of similar stuff, it will be admitted that a Jacobean bedroom is lacking neither in beauty nor richness.
The rich materials mentioned above were often embroidered in gold or silver as is the case in bed shown on Plate [IX.]
Striped silk was another favourite for the hangings of the bedroom. As a rule, when worsted materials were used, the curtains of both bed and windows were lined with silk. There was a great variety of silks, known variously as lutestring, paduasoy, tabby, taffetas, sarcenet, chaney, cheney or China, etc.; while the woollen goods included serge, darnick or dorneck, perpetuana, mohair, camoca or camak, camlet, say, serge, rateen, watchet, fustian, damask, and kitterminster or kidderminster, some of which were mixed with camel’s hair or threads of silk. There were also dimity, flowered chintz, and callimanco (a glazed linen), as well as Turkey-work and “wrought” (which, of course, was needlework). East India goods, such as printed calico and seersucker, were also used at the end of the period. White curtains for the bed are rarely employed.
The modern upholsterer will have no difficulty in finding suitable and equivalent materials for furnishing a Jacobean bed and bedroom.
The valance hanging from the tester, as shown on Plate [IX.], is adorned with fringe, as is also the stool that stands at the foot of the bed.