Bed cornices

These cornices comprise the foot-piece and two sides from a bed supplied to Harewood House, probably about 1769-1771. The foot-piece and one side are owned by the Chippendale Society and Harewood House retains the other. Before embarking on the great sequence of state rooms at Harewood, Chippendale first furnished the family apartments and guest lodgings. Although no bills survive for this phase of work, the Steward's Day Work Book records much of the daily activity from 1769 onwards. These rooms, which were furnished much less magnificently than the state rooms, were nevertheless eminently neat and comfortable, and several were fitted up with ‘India' wallpaper. This foot-piece and side were probably from a bed made for such a room. The cloth is a ‘fustian' with a linen warp and cotton weft and is probably English. It is decorated with a combination of block printed colour (red, blue, green, yellow, brown) and pencilled detail and, having presumably become soiled over time, the white ground has been ‘refreshed' with lead white paint, now discoloured in its turn. The cloth is glued in sections to a deal substrate of layered construction to achieve the necessary depth for the mouldings and carved elements. Very few 18th century cornices with printed cloth, as distinct from silk damask or velvet, survive.

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