This is one of the purest examples of a true Victorian antique “Iron & Brass” bed frame, you’ll see. Iron bed foundries, throughout the 1800’s, were striving to appeal to the more popular and expensive “Brass Bed” market. Brass beds were at the zenith of their popularity. So the market was looking for an alternative type of bed frame that offered the public something brass beds didn’t.
The two most distinctive things that brass beds fell short on were color & design…..Brass beds had only their metallic brass look. If you had something in your bedroom that didn’t blend with or look appropriate with brass…….you were stuck. Iron beds offered the adaptability of being painted any number of colors In a very short period, iron beds eclipsed brass bed popularity because of their more unique designs and ability to be painted different colors. The palate was endless, as is seen on old iron beds that have been painted numerous times over the past 150 years.
Design was the other distinct difference ……….. brass beds traditionally were made of straight brass tubing with little to no imagination to design. When brass beds did get in to curving their tubing, and their were some incredible designs, the prices back then increased exponentially ……….making them to expensive for middle class families. Conversely, iron beds could be curved to any and all imaginable designs…….feminine, masculine…..etc.
Another thing making iron beds more appealing was the manner in which the iron rods and tubing were joined. These points were a tube joined another, were referred to as “castings” or as they were known back then, “chills”. They were carved designs in wood, that were then pressed in sand to formed a mould…….which then were poured with iron ore, to make a permanent mould, that could be used repeatedly. We’ll do another blog on “Castings” in the near future.
Hope this has been informative and you’ll check out our website at www.cathousebeds.com
