A William III silk and velvet covered oak and pine tester bed late 17th/early 18th century

embroidered silk and velvet laid on oak and pine, with a pierced, scrolled and acanthus carved cornice around a finely worked tester with raised interior panel, supported by chamfered oak supports with a carved headboard and raised on finely carved gesso decorated feet, losses

Probably commissioned by Thomas, Lord Jermyn (1633-1703) for the State Bedroom at Rushbrooke Hall, Suffolk;
or his son-in-law Sir Roberts Davers, 2nd Bart. (1653-1722) for the same room;
thence by descent to Sir Charles Davers, 6th Bart, (1737-1806);
thence by descent to Frederick Hervey, 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bristol (1769-1859);
until the estate was exchanged for land to Robert Rushbrooke Esq. (1751-1829) (who married Frances Davers, daughter of Sir Charles Davers);
thence by descent to Robert Rushbrooke (1886-1972);
until sold by auction on the premises as 'The Elizabethan 4-post bedstead', Knight, Frank and Rutley, 10/11 December 1919, Lot 202 for £892.10s.;
where acquired (according to the auctioneers book), by a Mr Harper(?); 
subsequently sold in 1923 for 1000 guineas by Sir Philip Sassoon (1888-1939) to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;
de-Accessioned 8 March 1971

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery of English Furniture, XVI and XVII Centuries, 1923-1963

Percy Macquoid, The History of English Furniture, Age of Walnut, London, 1905, p. 21, fig. 22;
Preston Remington, 'The Rushbrooke Bed', Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. XIX, No. 6, June 1924, p. 140-141 (illustrated on the cover);
Ed. Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. XX, No. 6, 1925, p. 5 (illustrated in the Gallery);
Herbert Cescinsky, English Furniture from Gothic to Sheraton, London, 1929, p. 157 (illustration of headboard and tester);
Lucy Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool, 2008, Vol. 1, p. 121-132, illustrated fig. 116

Posts possibly reduced in height. There is a copy of a note fron the MMA card index saying 'A sample of the wood from the headboard of this bed was sent to the U.S Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Madison, Wisconsin. An answering letter dated November 27 1963, identifies the sample as Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris), G. Parkes 12/2/63. The posts and rails of this bed are of oak. G. P. 14/4/63. This important tester is in unrestored condition. It will need extensive workshop attention. Whilst much of the carved detail to the cornice and headboard is present there are losses, splits and distress commensurate with age and use. When the bed is built the fundamental components; the posts and rails are sturdy. There is a central shell motif lacking to the centre of the headboard (this has been lost for some time as early photographs show that it is lacking. On these elements there are numerous old marks, tack holes and chips from hangings, mattress supports and other components now lost. There are also apertures to each corner from previous bolts and other securing fittings. The original carved feet have their original but extremely distressed surface finish. There are also losses to the carved detail on the feet. The embroidered headboard is covered in original yellow silk with applique, embroiderey and quiliting. There are loose threads and areas of repair. This finely worked surface has tears and is discoloured. The textiles on the headboard are very worn and there are exposed of timber that would have been covered. There is evidence of the original hessian lining and wadding exposed in areas. There are also areas of patching. The mattress required would need to be approx; 188cm. long by 161cm. wide.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This atmospheric bed is a rare survivor produced during the reign of William III (1688-1702) and forms part of a small extant group of early upholstered beds. The manufacture of these important beds was centralised to London and usually the work of émigré French workers. One of the most famous of this type is the Melville State Bed in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London  (V&A, W.35:1 to 61-1949). It was probably worked by Francis Lapiere (1653-1714) and possibly designed by Daniel Marot (1661-1752). This was commissioned by George Melville, 1^st Earl Melville (c.1634-1707) for the State Bedroom at Melville House in Fife, Scotland. It is a Baroque masterpiece and like the Rushbrooke Bed makes full use of an extravagant cornice and contrasting fabrics to great theatrical effect.

The costs of such beds were enormous and their commission was the reserve of a wealthy elite and ownership, a signifier of status. Usually these luxurious items were to commemorate a change in status of a family, the redecoration or construction of a great house (as in the Melville Bed) or in anticipation of a Royal visit.

Such was the quality of the Rushbrooke bed that it was still highly thought of some sixty years after it was commissioned.  Lucy Wood in her excellent book The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool, 2008, Vol. I, p. 121-132 records an inventory in 1759 that was undertaken at Rushbrooke Hall. It is evocatively described for Sir Robert Davers (d.1763) as the hall was to be let by him to the Duke of Cleveland. This, the 'best bed', was located in an unnamed room but one after the 'Little Withdrawing Room' and was described thus:

'A bedstead and crimson velvet furniture lined with yellow sattin, and counterpain of the same embroidered, a case curtain and rod, chince quilt'

A very close and comparable bed is 'Queen Mary's Bed' in The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh (RCIN 27918) which was romantically referred to by Sir Walter Scott as 'a couch for the rose of Scotland'. This wonderfully sentimental 19th century quote illustrates the historical confusion and mythology which surrounds many state tester beds. Even in the early 20th century when Percy Macquoid in his canonical if sometimes mis-guided work, The Age of Walnut, (London, 1905, p. 23) writes that Charles II slept in the Rushbrooke Bed, this is possible but very hard to prove. Queen Mary's Bed was first recorded in an inventory of 1684 at the Palace. It was commissioned for Anne, Duchess of Hamilton (1631-1716). The similarities are quite striking, particularly the interior of the embroidered tester with a central raised area and the finely worked and shell carved shaped headboard, it would not be unreasonable to assume this is from the same workshop. For another bed with a similarly flamboyant tester and which also has pierced acanthus clasped corners see 'Lady Chesterfield's Bed' formerly at Holme Lacy, Herefordshire (now installed by the National Trust at Beningbrough, Yorkshire). Lucy Wood (op. cit. p. 130) also gives this to the same workshop as the Rushbrooke Bed, '...the treatment of the cornices, valances and headboard are so similar as to leave little doubt that both beds originated in the same workshop'. What is particularly exciting about the offered lot within this pre-eminent group is its untouched condition.

There is a further important bed which is at Knole, in Kent, worthy of consideration. Lucy Wood writes '[it] shows a comparable use of fringe to divide valances and has a headboard of similar shape' (op. cit. p. 130). This 'The Venetian Ambassador's Bed' is by Thomas Roberts and Jean Poictevin and dates from 1688 and is in an original and fine state of preservation.

There is a group of eight armchairs(originally a much larger set) from Rushbrooke Hall discussed by Lucy Wood (op. cit. p. 121-132) in the collections of the Lady Lever Art Gallery (LL4049-4056 X39), five of which are on loan to Hampton Court Palace. This group is ensuite to the bed, a point noted by Lucy Wood and mentioned by Percy Macquoid (op. cit. p. 27). What is particularly interesting, after a comparison of details (especially the pierced front legs or 'protuberance of the whorl', Macquoid, p. 27) is the fact that these were conceived as part of an overall decorative scheme at Rushbrooke.

Clearly the individual responsible for creating this interior was of some standing and one can now only guess, through these scattered surviving furnishings, just how fabulous this scheme may have been. The Rushbrooke Tester is important in the history of English furniture and one of those indicators which illustrates superbly an incredible period of history, an extraordinary family and a great house. Its magnificence, despite great age, is still very evident.