Metal Beds vs All Brass Beds
Back in the early 1800’s the more affluent people in this country sought out the beauty of shinny brass beds.
British Canopy Beds
They are unmistakable. Their construction is very standardized. Yet the metal beds being made in England in the 1800’s all have the same problem …… instability. Why? Because there are way too many connecting points, where iron tubing is joined to brass tubing or iron rods are connected to iron tubingand those connections are problematic…
What Makes One Bed More Valuable Than Another?
There are a number of things that make one antique bed more valuable than another. The first thing: is the size of the tubing. To be more specific, the size tubing going across the top of the bed. Nearly 85% of all the iron beds that were made back in the 1800’s had 1″ thick…
What Determines a Beds Value ?
So you’re hunting for a bed….. not a “replica” or “reproduction”, and you want to know where to start. You should first know that there is no comparability between an authentic old antique iron bed and a reproduction. They are constructed very differently, the reproduction being produced with aluminum castings and thin wall tubing and the original…
Redesigning Original Antique Bed Designs
I’ve always been a bit of a “purist” when it comes to antique iron beds and “reproductions”. There have been a few companies that go above and beyond in their efforts to maintain the exact duplication of the original iron beds they’re copying. This can be difficult for numerous reasons, the least of which are…
Castings Are A Beds Fingerprint
The major thing that give metal beds their distinction from any other type of bed, are the cast iron castings that are the decorative pieces that are poured around all the “joints” of rods and tubing in the design of the iron beds. They are the “fingerprint’ of the foundry that has designed them ,…
Shepherds Staff…….
Few antique iron beds you’ll ever come across will have such a unique corner casting and design. This bed has always been referred to as the “Shepherds Staff”, for obvious reasons. We came across this bed in the Chicago area where foundries were nearly as plentiful as those in the Pittsburgh Pa area, back in…
Iron Bed Corner Finials A Foundries Signature
Nearly 50% or more of all iron beds made back in the 1800’s had corner castings or “finials”. These are the decorative castings on the top of the corner of the head and foot board. They are as diverse in their style as the beds they go on. So what can be determined from corner…
“Castings”……..The Iron Artists Palette
What separates mediocre iron beds from a top level ones………….”castings”. Castings are the foundries way of showing their designers true artistic talents. Over the years I’ve come across beds that had some of the more detailed and unique castings you could imagine. In the photo’s I’ve attached to this Blog, you’ll see but a few…
Art on Iron Beds
There are a number of ways that a person could consider art to be involved in antique iron beds. But there are two ways that stand out probably more than others. One would be the iron beds from the mid to late 1800’s that were referred to as “art panel” beds. These beds specifically had…