Bedstead c.1828
Carved and gilded wood, gilt metal, covered in green silk | 167.0 x 155.0 x 224.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 20802
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A giltwood double bed with padded head and foot boards, the head with a ribbon-tied open laurel wreath centre framed by scrolling brackets, the end-posts with applied anthemions and rosettes. The footboard with an applied Royal coat-of-arms in relief within a medallion, with turned tapering foot posts with gourd finials, the cresting with square block framed by foliate trusses. The side rails are panelled and applied with rosettes and berried laurel; on massive brass adjustable wheels. Part of the group of furnishings supplied between 1827 and 1829 to King George IV by the partnership of Morel and Seddon. Nicholas Morel had formerly worked for The Prince of Wales, later George IV, at Carlton House and the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. Subsequently, he was commissioned to design and furnish the newly built apartments designed by Sir Jeffry Wyattville (1766-1840) for the King at Windsor Castle. In order to fulfil the contract he entered into partnership with George Seddon III whose family had large and long established furniture workshops in Aldersgate Street in the City of London. This magnificent giltwood bed was the focal point of King George IV's private bedchamber in his refurbished private apartments in the Upper Ward of Windsor Castle. One of Morel and Seddon's two miniature designs included, rather eccentrically, a timepiece fitted onto the top of the foot-board. The bed also originally had an iron mechanism for lifting the base so that the occupant could sit up. The bed's design evokes the taste for antiquity seen in the foot posts which may suggest Roman fasces (bound bundles of wooden rods), emblematic of good government, while laurels and palms suggest the triumph of lyric poetry. This bold neo-classical scheme was inspired by French fashions of the early nineteenth century, including designs published by Charles Percier and PFL Fontaine, designers and interior decorators to Emperor Napoleon I. This French-inspired design recalls furnishings supplied for Empress Josephine's Salon at the Chateau de Fontainebleau, by Francois-Honore-Georges Jacob-Desmalter, who also worked for Morel and Seddon on the furnishing of Windsor Castle.
Provenance
Delivered to George IV at Windsor Castle by Morel & Seddon, 2-4 July 1828
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Creator(s)
(furniture maker)Style of (furniture maker)(nationality)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Carved and gilded wood, gilt metal, covered in green silk
Measurements
167.0 x 155.0 x 224.0 cm (whole object)
Category
Object type(s)
Other number(s)
M&S : Roberts, H., 2001. For the King's Pleasure: George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London – M&S 263M&S : Roberts, H., 2001. For the King's Pleasure: George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London – M&S 356M&S : Roberts, H., 2001. For the King's Pleasure: George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London – M&S 357M&S : Roberts, H., 2001. For the King's Pleasure: George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London – M&S 358M&S : Roberts, H., 2001. For the King's Pleasure: George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, London – M&S 359