The lit à la polonaise had four columns and a canopy. Sometimes the canopy was decorated with a little graceful carving. A “pomme” or a bunch of feathers, ornamented the centre and each corner of the canopy. Houdon, the sculptor, had a lit à la polonaise draped in yellow Indian damask trimmed with braid, the woodwork of which was carved and painted white. One of these beds, with a carved and gilt frame hung with crimson damask, was sold for 3,000 livres in 1770; another, for 2,500 livres in 1777; and a third for 1,100 livres in 1782. Sometimes the frames were made entirely of iron and draped.
The lit de duchesse was also popular. In 1743, when the Queen’s bedroom was refurnished for Marie Leczinska, a lit de duchesse was provided. The Duc de Luynes says: “This bed is of white silk, embroidered and painted. The bed is not composed of four posts, as all the Queen’s beds have been up to the present. It is what is called à la duchesse.”
PLATE XXXV
Another favourite was the lit en ottamane which dates from about 1765. One is described as a “lit en ottomane” of 5 feet, the dome and the rest of the woodwork carved and gilt and the counterpane, the curtains and the interior of cherry-coloured Indian damask.
Another, in 1770, was of “blue and white moiré, 3½ feet wide, en ottomane, the wood carved and picked out with blue.” The lit en ottomane was a variety of the lit de repos.
The lit à romaine, which became popular about 1760, had a canopy and four festooned curtains. The lit à tulipe was similar to the lit à arc, or lit à flèche; only, instead of an ornamental arrow fixed to its pavilion, its decoration was a bronze, copper or gilded tulip from the hanging bell of which the curtains seemed to fall. The lit à la Turque, in fashion from 1755 to 1780, was a sort of sofa with three backs; a variation was introduced about 1766. The lit à tombeau (see Plate [XXXVI.], No. 8) was also a favourite. The two posts at its foot were shorter than the two at the head, and the canopy had in consequence a somewhat sharp slant. It much resembles what in England was called a “single-headed couch or field bed.” The lit à double tombeau had posts of equal height and the curtains fell down the sides in equal slants.
We also find among the beds of the day (1751) a lit en baldaquin of crimson damask, composed of a little canopy, two small and one large valances, a large headboard, counterpane, two backs and two hooks. It was 3½ feet wide and 6 feet long, and was equipped with two wool mattresses, a feather bed and two feather bolsters.
Another lit en baldaquin had its canopy, two small and one large valances and headboard hung in green and white stripes while the two large curtains (5 lengths each, 7½ feet long) were of green serge.
A lit à chassis (canopy bed) was draped entirely in a green and white striped material. It was composed of a canopy, four small and three large valances, two lower valances, a headboard and a counterpane. The frame was 9 feet, 8 inches high, and 4 feet wide.