As I’ve mentioned in the past……most of my patrons I have for my iron beds are women. That was also the case back in the 1800’s. Society was much more chauvinistic back then and beds and the selection of them for the house was not something most men involved themselves in. So selection was left up to the woman of the house. But…… there was a strange issue that women had to deal with when selecting a bed. Is it too ornate and fancy? Are there too many scrolls? Is the color to feminine?
So to counter many of these questionable points when selecting a iron bed that could possibly offend her spouse, the woman of the house would try and diplomatically select an iron bed that engendered the masculine nature of her spouse…….yet fulfill the feminine qualities a woman wants in her bedroom.
The bed in this photo does all that and more…….. First it was painted black. Beds that are painted white or some soft pastel are usually going to set off “red flags” with a spouse who is distantly removed from his repressed feminine nature…….. we’re talking Victorian era.
The second thing the manufacturer of this bed did was to give it a straight top with large iron corner castings. The tubing and castings on this antique iron bed are rather massive in person.
Now what the foundry did do to appeal to the woman of the house are the beautifully detailed “Heart” shaped castings, with brass finials in the middle of each heart. A feminine touch but certainly not enough to offend most men.
As you can see……iron bed designers really had to walk the fence when refining their designs, so as not to offend either party.
