As most of you know…the largest size iron bed being made back in the 1800’s, was a double size. So when someone wants a larger size, and still wants to use an antique iron beds, it becomes necessary to convert that original double size in one of a couple different ways. When converting your bed…
Having been in the iron bed business for close to 40 years, I’ve seen most beds more than once. I have albums upon albums of different bed styles I’ve come across over that period. But it always amazes me when I get a bed in that I’ve had in the past that looks so uniquely…
Most people think of antique iron beds in one of two ways…….either ultra fancy and scrolled or plain and Austere. Although many of them do fall within those style parameters , there are many that have a subtle yet elegant understated look……..as is the case with the bed in this photo. True……there are many simple…
In the past forty years, I’ve never encountered a more prolific iron bed than that of the “Pagoda” . It’s name comes from the corner casting that resembles a oriental Pagoda. Coupled with Victorian scrolls, it’s a bed I’ve seen copied by at least half a dozen different foundries. Back in the 1800’s small independent…
Close to 40 years ago I started buying and selling antique brass beds. It was purely a part time hobby that turned in to a career I’ve been doing the better part of my life. Although I now specialize in iron beds from the same period of time in the 1800’s. I started in brass…
One of the most utilitarian iron beds ever made was the “campaign bed”. “Campaign’s” derivation comes from a series of military operations intended to achieve a particular objective, confined to a particular area, or involving a specified type of fighting, an organized course of action to achieve a particular goal. These “campaigns” as they were…
Yellow is sunshine. It is a warm color that, like red, has conflicting symbolism. On the one hand it denotes happiness and joy. but on the other hand yellow is the color of cowardice and deceit. Yellow is one of the more popular colors being used on iron beds back in the 1800’s. Because of the high visibility…
This was not a new idea – the Romans used beds, which they could fold and carry easily – but for some unknown reason the fashion never caught on until the 1851 Great Exhibition. A’ French’ double iron bed from Birmingham was selling at the rate of 400 per week in 1849, and shot up…
In history, there was a definite “transition period” where the design of iron beds changed radically from the ornate, detailed castings, and scrolled Victorian lines…….. to a much more “stream-lined” less decorative. Three of the more distinct “innovations” to help usher in the Industrial Revolution, and that were closely linked to it, were Textiles and…
The use of the symbolic meaning of flowers on iron beds and particularly in their detailed castings to represent emotions was developed to a high degree during Victorian times. Due to the strict protocol of the times, emotions, wishes and thoughts were not openly expressed between men and women. Instead, subtle things like bed designs…