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Bed hangings
Bed hangings or bed curtains are fabric panels that surround a bed; they were used from medieval times through to the 19th century. Bed hangings provided privacy when the master or great bed was in a public room, such as the parlor, but also kept in warmth and showed evidence of wealth when beds were located in private areas of the home. When bedrooms became more common in the mid-1700s, the use of bed hangings diminished.
Bed hangings were made of various fabrics, depending on the place, time period, and wealth of the owner. Fabrics included wool, cotton, linen, fustian, and, for those who could afford it, silk or velvet. Stitches were worked in wool or, for the rich or the nobility, silk and gold. Decorations on bed hangings also varied based on geography and time period. French hangings during the Renaissance might depict embroidered scenes from the Bible, mythology, or allegory. Hangings from the UK used floral, leaf, chinoiserie, and animal themes at various times, and those from the American Colonies often followed suit, though with less dense stitching to preserve scarce crewel wool. Examples of bed hangings can be found in museums and historic homes.
Bed hangings, also known as bed "furniture," were used from medieval times through the 19th century, though their popularity waned from the mid 1700s. Bed hangings proved useful for several reasons. The master bed was often located in the parlor, and the hangings provided privacy. Other beds may have occupied the hall and kitchen, as well as the upstairs bedrooms.
Given the public locations of some beds, the decorated hangings also served as a show of wealth and helped to keep warmth in. Bed hangings in the second half of the 1600s through the first half of the 1700s were often embroidered with Jacobean motifs. Some hangings were embroidered with blue and green crewel wool on cream cotton and linen. Although many examples of crewel work survive, such curtains are rarely specified in inventories, and wealthier owners paid for embroidery in coloured silks and gold and silver thread. By the mid-18th century, separate rooms for sleeping were becoming more common. The spaces where beds were located were no longer areas where courtiers gathered, with the attendant need to impress. The need for bed hangings diminished.
Some medieval bed canopies and curtains were suspended from ceiling beams. In English these canopies were known as a "hung celour". The fabric canopy concealed an iron frame with iron curtain rods.These beds can be seen in manuscript illuminations, paintings, and engravings, showing cords suspending the front of the canopy to the ceiling. Such beds could easily be dismantled and the rich fabric hangings carefully packed away. Scottish inventories of the 16th and 17th-century mention "chapel beds". These had elaborate fabric canopies, apparently suspended from the ceiling of the bedchamber. Mary, Queen of Scots had a number of her chapel beds converted into "foure nuikit" four cornered standing beds in 1565, recycling rich fabrics from other beds and velvet covers were made for the new posts.
A complete set of bed furniture for a standing bed may include a coverlet (not technically a bed hanging), "a headcloth, three or four valences (depending on whether the bed was against the wall), side curtains, a tester cloth (canopy or celure), and bases, attached to the bed rail."
Bed curtains were lined with a show fabric, often different to the outside. Some beds had inner valances concealing the curtain rods and rings. In England, after 1620, wooden beds with carved wooden headboards became less popular than a fashionable type known as a "French bed", a fabric box often depicted in paintings and engravings, especially by Abraham Bosse. These beds could have headcloths, embroidered with the owner's heraldry. The curtains at the sides and ends were sometimes fixed at the top and designed to be pulled up and tied.
English bed curtains were often made of wool, though in the mid 1600s linen and cotton fabrics started to be used, particularly fustian, a heavy twill-woven cloth with a linen warp and a cotton weft. Baptist Hicks sold watchet (blue) velvet for a valence and watchet taffeta sarcenet for curtains to the Earl of Northumberland in 1586, from his London shop at the sign of the White Bear. Matching watchet fringes were supplied by a silkman, Mr Bate. Bess of Hardwick owned an opulent "Pearl bed" featuring the Cavendish heraldry, which she bequeathed to her daughter, the Countess of Shrewsbury. The valences were of black velvet embroidered with pearls and silver "sivines and woodbines" (wild raspberries and vines). The counterpane of black velvet was striped with silver and coiled silver purl.
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Bed hangings AI simulator
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Bed hangings
Bed hangings or bed curtains are fabric panels that surround a bed; they were used from medieval times through to the 19th century. Bed hangings provided privacy when the master or great bed was in a public room, such as the parlor, but also kept in warmth and showed evidence of wealth when beds were located in private areas of the home. When bedrooms became more common in the mid-1700s, the use of bed hangings diminished.
Bed hangings were made of various fabrics, depending on the place, time period, and wealth of the owner. Fabrics included wool, cotton, linen, fustian, and, for those who could afford it, silk or velvet. Stitches were worked in wool or, for the rich or the nobility, silk and gold. Decorations on bed hangings also varied based on geography and time period. French hangings during the Renaissance might depict embroidered scenes from the Bible, mythology, or allegory. Hangings from the UK used floral, leaf, chinoiserie, and animal themes at various times, and those from the American Colonies often followed suit, though with less dense stitching to preserve scarce crewel wool. Examples of bed hangings can be found in museums and historic homes.
Bed hangings, also known as bed "furniture," were used from medieval times through the 19th century, though their popularity waned from the mid 1700s. Bed hangings proved useful for several reasons. The master bed was often located in the parlor, and the hangings provided privacy. Other beds may have occupied the hall and kitchen, as well as the upstairs bedrooms.
Given the public locations of some beds, the decorated hangings also served as a show of wealth and helped to keep warmth in. Bed hangings in the second half of the 1600s through the first half of the 1700s were often embroidered with Jacobean motifs. Some hangings were embroidered with blue and green crewel wool on cream cotton and linen. Although many examples of crewel work survive, such curtains are rarely specified in inventories, and wealthier owners paid for embroidery in coloured silks and gold and silver thread. By the mid-18th century, separate rooms for sleeping were becoming more common. The spaces where beds were located were no longer areas where courtiers gathered, with the attendant need to impress. The need for bed hangings diminished.
Some medieval bed canopies and curtains were suspended from ceiling beams. In English these canopies were known as a "hung celour". The fabric canopy concealed an iron frame with iron curtain rods.These beds can be seen in manuscript illuminations, paintings, and engravings, showing cords suspending the front of the canopy to the ceiling. Such beds could easily be dismantled and the rich fabric hangings carefully packed away. Scottish inventories of the 16th and 17th-century mention "chapel beds". These had elaborate fabric canopies, apparently suspended from the ceiling of the bedchamber. Mary, Queen of Scots had a number of her chapel beds converted into "foure nuikit" four cornered standing beds in 1565, recycling rich fabrics from other beds and velvet covers were made for the new posts.
A complete set of bed furniture for a standing bed may include a coverlet (not technically a bed hanging), "a headcloth, three or four valences (depending on whether the bed was against the wall), side curtains, a tester cloth (canopy or celure), and bases, attached to the bed rail."
Bed curtains were lined with a show fabric, often different to the outside. Some beds had inner valances concealing the curtain rods and rings. In England, after 1620, wooden beds with carved wooden headboards became less popular than a fashionable type known as a "French bed", a fabric box often depicted in paintings and engravings, especially by Abraham Bosse. These beds could have headcloths, embroidered with the owner's heraldry. The curtains at the sides and ends were sometimes fixed at the top and designed to be pulled up and tied.
English bed curtains were often made of wool, though in the mid 1600s linen and cotton fabrics started to be used, particularly fustian, a heavy twill-woven cloth with a linen warp and a cotton weft. Baptist Hicks sold watchet (blue) velvet for a valence and watchet taffeta sarcenet for curtains to the Earl of Northumberland in 1586, from his London shop at the sign of the White Bear. Matching watchet fringes were supplied by a silkman, Mr Bate. Bess of Hardwick owned an opulent "Pearl bed" featuring the Cavendish heraldry, which she bequeathed to her daughter, the Countess of Shrewsbury. The valences were of black velvet embroidered with pearls and silver "sivines and woodbines" (wild raspberries and vines). The counterpane of black velvet was striped with silver and coiled silver purl.