Low post bedstead

Date1780-1810

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Norfolk (possibly)

MediumTulip poplar

DimensionsOH: 27 1/4"; OL: 74"; OW: 50"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1988-424

DescriptionLow post bedstead. Head and foot posts consist of a flattened ball finial atop a short cylindrical post, squared at the juncture with the rails with chamfered corners on the squared section, above ring turnings over baluster shaped legs. Headboard and footboard both straight on the bottom edge and slightly pitched along the top edge with quarter round cut-outs prior to the junction with the posts. Rails, square in cross section with molded outer edges, a rabbet, about half the width of the rails, cut into the inner corner of the top with a molded upper edge and with evenly spaced turned pegs inset into top of rabbets.
ProvenanceVendor purchased the bed in 1983 from Col. Williamson of Williams Antiques in Hampton, VA. He had purchased it from an elderly couple in Norfolk, VA. The wife indicated that her 5x-great grandfather had made the bed in Norfolk.