The tulip iron bed is probably one of the more prolific iron bed designs to have been copied and duplicated back in the 1800’s. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. That couldn’t be more true with this iron bed style.
I’ve have at least 6 versions of this tulip iron bed. The shape and design are exactly alike. But the detailed castings holding the design in place are different.
That means there were numerous small independently owned foundries that were stealing design ideas from each others iron bed catalog.
Over the last 40 years I’ve seen literally thousands of different iron bed designs. So why would one particular iron bed spark such duplication by so many different foundries? Only one answer…….it was popular and it sold well. The main reason there were thousands of different iron bed designs is because foundries continued to try and find designs that were more popular than the iro bed designs being offered by their competitors.
It’s like anything else that manufacturers change every year….they’re seeking out something the public will fall madly in love with. It would seem as though the tulip iron bed was just such a design. Few iron beds have ever garnered the popularity and mass duplication as this one. It is still a favorite with interior designers today.
In this photo you’ll see a tulip iron bed “before & after” we did a king conversion on it.
I have seen tulip iron beds that are as old as 1830 and then some closer to 1900. It really had a run of popularity.
I hope you’ve found this blog informative . I invite you to revisit my website
to answer any and all questions you might have about antique iron beds.
I also invite you to take a look at the multiple “Before & After” photo’s on our company Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/ – %21/pages/Cathouse-Antique-Iron-Beds/126838177398
