Images(2)

High Post Bedstead

Date1740-1800

OriginAmerica, Maryland, St. Mary's County

MediumBlack walnut

DimensionsOverall: 84 × 52 × 75 3/8in. (213.4 × 132.1 × 191.5cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, TIF Foundation in memory of Michelle A. Iverson

Object number2023-323

DescriptionHigh post bedstead; Posts are columnar, tapering towards top, with ring and capital near top, blocked at rails; turned below rails with barrel turning over slightly conical feet; rails beaded at top and bottom outer corners and top inner corners, with rabbet on top, inner section, originally with turned pegs (now cut off); rectangular headboard (missing top portions) tenoned into posts; rails tenon into posts with (8) old slotted iron screws held in rail end rather than through tenon; lapped walnut lathe frame with bead along both bottom edges, laps at posts over (missing) iron pins. 13 parts; 4 posts, 4 rails, 4 lathe parts, 1 headboard.
Label TextThis bedstead likely descended in the Mackall and Brome families of St. Mary's City, Maryland where it was recovered from the Brome house in the mid-20th century. The use of columnar posts on this bedstead and slightly conical feet relate to similar design features on the legs and feet of a gate-leg dining table (CWF 1966-212) and a side chair (Maryland Historical Society 66.37.1) both with recovery histories in the same area. These elements were utilized in furniture design throughout the 18th century making it difficult to determine a specific date for this bedstead. A rare survival, the lathe frame is incised with a double bead on its lower face that would have been visible by the bed's occupant.
ProvenanceHistory of ownership in the Brome-Howard family of St. Mary's City, Maryland.

Possibly owned by Dr. John Mackall Brome [1818-1887] (St. Mary's City, MD) and Susan Margaret Bennett Brome [1820-1881] (St. Mary's City, MD) or James Richard Thomas [1826-1885] (St. Mary's County, MD) and Jeannette Eleanor Briscoe Thomas [1837-1910] (St. Mary's County, MD); descended to son, James Thomas Brome [1847-1910] (St. Mary's County, MD) and Eliza Emaline Thomas Brome [1857-1924] (St. Mary's County, MD); descended to daughters, Susette Brome Bennett [1877-1949] and Jennette Brome Howard [1881-1967]; descended to sons, Thomas Howard and J. Spence Howard Jr [b. 1915]; 1979/1980, Brome house sold to the state of Maryland; acquired by John P. Cook from the Brome house around that time (Hollywood, MD); 2023-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)