Images(2)

Bed Valance

Date1750-1790

OriginAmerica (valance) and England (probably) (textile)

MediumCotton; linen and wool trimming

DimensionsOD: 11 1/4"; OL: 80"

Credit LineGift of Franklin R. Cushman

Object number1952-13

DescriptionBed valance for the side of a tall-post bedstead. The valance is shaped with shallow eared projections and bound on all sides with tape of natural linen patterned in blue wool (5/8" wide). The lining is natural plain-woven linen. The textile is woodblock printed with china blue on natural tabby-woven cotton in a design of flower sprays (full-blown flowers with buds, stems and leaves).
Label TextMost fashionable beds of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were enclosed by curtains and topped by narrow valances such as this that formed a decorative heading and hid the curtain hardware.
ProvenanceDonor stated that the valance had a history of ownership in the Cushman family of Connecticut and Rhode Island