Images(2)

Bed Cornice

Datec. 1770

OriginAmerica, New York (wood frame) and England, Middlesex (textile)

MediumWood: White Pine Textile: Cotton (tabby weave), Bromley Hall

DimensionsOW: 40"; OH: 3"; OD: 1"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1964-223,3

DescriptionCornice fragment consisting of almost half the side cornice, missing central element and mirror image of extant portion; molded serpentine form curving into a flat scrolled shape at end; end is angled at about a 30° angle; chamfered rear edge; tenon nailed to back extending down near finished end. Textile: Plate-printed cotton glued to white pine. Fragment of textile design shows parts of swag, tassel, and birds. Complete design consists of large arrangement of fruit in the center, with tasseled swag below surrounded by birds perched on floral and foliate C-scrolls. Printed in red on natural ground.
Label TextWritten records prove that many fashionable beds were made with carved cornices at the top. Sometimes the cornices were painted and gilded; sometimes they were covered with fabric to match the bed curtains. Few have survived, however, because they were discarded after becoming soiled or going out of fashion. The textile glued to this cornice was printed at Talwin & Foster, England, in a pattern that was called "Mellon" in the eighteenth century.
Inscribed"Melon 10da yard Talwin & Foster"
ProvenanceGlen-Sanders Collection, Scotia, New York