This piece of furniture dates from 1660.

We have noted that the bea was generally met with in every room in the house. There were, however, separate bedrooms even in the Tudor age. Shakespeare's description of Imogen's apartment gives a very charming picture of a rich sleeping-room of the time:

"First her bed-chamber Where I confess I slept not; but profess, Had that was well worth watching,) it was hang'd With tapestry of silk and silver; the story, Proud Cleopatra when she met her Roman, And Cnydus swell'd above the banks, or for 'The press of boats or pride; a piece of work So bravely done, so rich, that it did strive In workmanship, and value; which I wonder d, Could be so rarely and exactly wrought, Since the true life on't was. . . .

The chimney Is south the chamber; and the chimney-piece, Chaste Dian bathing: never saw I figures So likely to report themselves; the cutter Was as another Nature dumb; outwent her, Motion and breath left out. . . .

The roof o' the chamber With golden cherubins is fretted: her andirons (I had forgot them) were two winking Cupids Of silver, each on one foot standing, nicely Depending on their brands." *

It is interesting to compare the above with the room that was prepared for the reception of James I. at Knole, Seven oaks, Kent, which is still intact. The walls are covered with tapestry depicting the story of Nebuchadnezzar. The state bed, which cost £8,000, is richly ornamented and has a canopy top, while its furniture is of gold and silver tissue, lined with rose-coloured satin, and embroidered and fringed with gold and silver. The chairs and stools in the room are covered to correspond with the hangings and other furniture of the bed.

Another room in the same house, known as the "Venetian Bedroom," becausethe Venetian ambassador, Nicolo Molino, slept there, contains a fine state bed, said to have been arranged for the entertainment of James II. The canopy and headboard are carved and gilt and surmounted by the royal arms. The hangings and other furniture are of green cut velvet lined with lutestring,* and the chairs and stools in the room are similarly upholstered.

* Cymbeline, Act II. Scene IV.

Another room at Knole, known as the "Spangled Bedroom," on account of its ceiling, is hung with tapestry and contains a handsome bed which is represented on Plate IX. The stools and chairs in this room are covered with crimson silk embroidered in the same pattern as the bed-furniture.

The massive Elizabethan "four-posted" bed died hard. Although in many homes the new styles were being introduced, the "beddesof tymbre" were treasured and still formed objects of special bequests. Oliver Cromwell's bed, which is still in existence, is similar in general style to the "Great Bed of Ware,"* * which was so large that it could hold twelve persons. In 1598, Paul Hentzer, visiting Windsor, notes the beds belonging to princes of preceding reigns measured 11 feet square and were covered with quilts shining with gold and silver.

The large Tudor bed was the richest piece of furniture. Apart from the sheets of finest linen, the soft and handsome blankets, the counterpane of marvellous needlework, the quilts of silk and rugs of fur, and the curtains of tapestry, samite, silk or velvet, it was a mass of superb carving luxuriantly expressed upon headboard, canopy, tester, columns, and panels. The columns were often carved to represent the "four gospellers," or evangelists, and angels: which explain the old rhyme:

* A heavy ribbed silk.

* *"Taunt him with the license of ink; if thou thou' st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss; and as many lies as mill lie in thy sheet of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in England, set 'em down." - Tiuelfth Night, Act III, Scene II.

"Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Bless the bed that I sleep on; Two angels at my head, Two angels round my bed, Two to watch, and two to pray, And two to carry my soul away."

One of the popular decorations of the columns was the acorn-shaped central bulb on the posts, and the arch panel on the headboard. Even the under side of the canopy is formed of carved panels. On either side of the headboard, the terminal figures of men or women or angels were not merely decorative, but formed supports for looping back the curtains. Many of these carved oak bedsteads were imported from Flanders, especially those whose testers are carved with designs suggested by drapery or fringe. Under this great bed, which sometimes stood upon a low platform, the " trundle " or "truckle" bed was rolled.

"In the best bed the Squire must lie, And John in truckle bed hard by."

The bed shown on Plate IX. is of the new style which lingered with a few changes far into the reign of Queen Anne. It is therefore a typical Jacobean or Stuart bed. The proportion is entirely different to that of the Tudor four-poster. The pillars, or supports, for the tester are taller, and the whole framework is of lighter build. This interesting specimen is still preserved at Knole, the home of the Sackvilles at Sevenoaks, Kent. Its hangings, tester, valance and counterpane are of crimson silk lined with satin and richly embroidered with gold and silver.

No. 1 on the same Plate shows the bed with light, spiral column that was also in use. The post is surmounted by an ornament, or knob, or bunch of feathers which, in France are called "pomme."

This is the kind of bed which appears on Plate III., No. 3.

It will be noticed that there is no carving on this bed which depends for its elegance upon the richness of its furniture. At this period, green, yellow and crimson were the favourite colours for draping the bed. The materials chosen were silk damask, worsted damask, plain satin, silk, or serge, according to the wealth of the owner; and when it is remembered that the windows were hung with the same stuff, and the chairs, stools, cushions, table-carpets and cupboard cloth and cushions were of similar stuff, it will be admitted that a Jacobean bedroom is lacking neither in beauty nor richness.