Sujet

The Great Bed of Ware, 1861. Creator: Unknown.

Légende

The Great Bed of Ware, 1861. '"...if thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss; and as many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in England, set 'em down." - Twelfth Night...Shakspeare's reference to this famous bedstead shows it was well known in his day; yet, strange to say, no account of...the circumstances which led to its construction is now to be found. For nearly three hundred years it appears to have been preserved at an ancient inn at Ware, in Hertfordshire, where, we believe, it may still be seen. It is...made of oak, and, from the curious and elaborate workmanship of the carving, must have been a costly piece of furniture. On the back is the date 1460, but these figures are questionable...Nares, in his Glossary, speaks of this bed as having once held twenty-four persons, and gives for his authority Chauncey's "History and Antiquities of Hertfordshire," but this is a mistake. The story told...by Chauncey is, that on one occasion for a frolic as many as twelve people slept in it: six at top and six at bottom; and we must admit that if it could conveniently accommodate even this number, it is well entitled to be distinguished as the "Great Bed of Ware".' From "Illustrated London News", 1861.

Crédit

Photo12/Heritage Images/The Print Collector

Notre référence

HRM23B24_423

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

Licence

Droits gérés

Format disponible

11,2Mo (896,3Ko) / 15,8cm x 17,7cm / 1865 x 2096 (300dpi)

Mots clés

travel England wood arts carving country art British museum English bed room color oak decoration decorative ornate wooden handicraft handicrafts antique carved location century Britain newspapers press print furniture concept decorated four poster bed B&W tourist attraction engraved engraving Colour 19th century black & white black and white B W white and black Victoria and Albert Museum 16th century nineteenth century sixteenth century tourism 15th century The Print Collector bedchamber fifteenth century four-poster bed Illustrated London News Museum of Ornamental Art ILN bedroom newspaper object Victoria & Albert Museum Unknown William Shakespeare Shakespeare William V&A bed chamber fourposter bed V&A Museum Shakspeare Jonas 19th-century Hand Carved Great Bed of Ware Jonas Fosbrooke Fosbrooke