Silk damask fragment

This is a piece of the original green silk damask from the Harewood State Bed. In 1773 Edwin Lascelles provided Chippendale with a large quantity of green silk damask to cover the walls and seat furniture in the State Bedroom and Dressing Room and to make curtains and bed hangings. It was a relatively common practice for the client to provide his own textiles and other expensive materials. Chippendale charged £13 for hanging the State Bed, a mere fraction of the £250 he charged for its making. The bed was dismantled and crated in the early 19th century and remained in storage until its rediscovery in the 1970s. Some fragments of the original damask survived, including this fragment from a corner inside the dome of the tester. The salvaged pieces enabled a new silk to be woven to the same pattern and eventually the bed was successfully re-built and re-hung, the walls re-clad and the seat furniture re-covered. The shadow of a heart-shaped filigree giltwood border can be seen along the top edge of this piece.

This item is owned by The Chippendale Society. Explore the Society’s website and collections by clicking the external link below.