THOUGH a fair number of antique oak bedsteads are still in existence, that number is steadily diminishing on account of the adaptability of bedstead backs for being made up into what are now termed 'overmantels.' These heavy-canopied, massive oak beds do not accord with modern notions of comfort, convenience and health, and their sacrifice is deemed no crime, scores of them having been dismembered in recent years for the purpose of providing material for wall-decoration. English bedsteads of Gothic type are excessively scarce, and complete examples all but unknown. The stories of Gothic origin attached to some of the well-known relics in our great country mansions will not be credited by the experienced connoisseur, for the articles to which they refer almost invariably date from no more remote time than the reign of Queen Bess. Popular legends connecting them with such personages as Queen Matilda, King Duncan of Scotland, or Edward II., may safely, in the light of modern criticism, be discredited.

Some fragments of a linen-panelled bedstead dating from the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century may be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum, but a complete and perfect example is found in the Saffron Walden Museum. The latter is a fine production of late Perpendicular workmanship, though it shows slight signs of French or Flemish influence in the decorative detail. The carved posts, which are 'paned' or honeycombed - that is to say, divided into geometrical compartments after the peculiar manner of the period - are in the most perfect state of preservation. This most rare bedstead has been dismembered, apparently for purposes of exhibition, and the several parts placed against the walls of the building. It is, to my mind, a thousand pities that this treatment should have been adopted. Surely it would be better to unite the parts and exhibit the relic in its proper shape, for under present conditions it is somewhat unattractive; but, if re-erected, it would no doubt draw many connoisseurs to this most interesting little country museum.

Henry Shaw, in his delightful book 'Specimens of Ancient Furniture,' gives a beautiful plate of a somewhat similar bedstead of the time of Henry VIII., which he describes as being then in the possession of the Rev. William Allen, of Lorely Hall, near Blackburn. He adds the information that 'this interesting example, which, unfortunately, has lost its true cornice, no doubt highly enriched, was observed by Mr. Allen, in the course of his professional duties, in administering to a dying parishioner the last consolations of religion, and purchased by him after the decease of the sick person from the heir.' This bedstead has obviously been elevated by blocks placed under the corner posts. It would be highly interesting to know what has become of this ornate and valuable piece of furniture. Bedsteads characteristic of the early Renaissance of Henry VIII.'s reign are almost as rare as those sculptured in the preceding style. At Melford Hall, however, the seat of the Rev. Sir W. Hyde Parker, is a bedstead with wonderful posts carved with medallions and scalework decoration, their bases being decorated with lancet-shaped windows.

These posts undoubtedly belong to the reign of Henry VIII., if not to that of the preceding monarch, but, unfortunately, the rest of the bedstead is not of the same early date, being obviously Elizabethan.

The great increase in the number of articles of framed furniture, made with a view to permanence, and used by even the middle classes in the reign of Elizabeth, is noted by Harrison in his 'Description of England,' 1577-1587, where he mentions 'their houses furnished with costlie furniture,' and 'their joined beds with tapestrie and silk hangings.'

A contemporary drawing depicting Cardinal Wolsey in bed shows the bed-posts to have bulbs not unlike those characteristic of the Elizabethan period, and it may therefore be taken for granted that the type of bedstead which we know so well, from such famous specimens as that to be seen at Berkeley Castle or the Great Bed of Ware, was not unknown in Wolsey's time - at least, as far as the outline is concerned. It should be noted that the bedstead represented in the Wolsey drawing is furnished with a canopy to which is attached a hanging of stuff and fringe completely concealing the capitals on the posts. This concealment of the capitals, sometimes by the stuff, sometimes by the woodwork of the canopy itself, is a detail frequently to be observed in bedsteads of the Elizabethan period. In Shaw's plate of the Great Bed of Ware we have a beautiful little detail sketch given of this peculiarity. The Great Bed of Ware is one of the most remarkable antiquities of its kind remaining in the country. It existed for generations in the Saracen's Head Hotel at Ware, Herts, but at present is located in a little house built on purpose to receive it near the inn at Rye House, where it is exhibited to thousands of trippers on Bank holidays and weekends.

We have no documentary evidence as to the date when it was constructed; indeed, its early history is shrouded in obscurity. Shakespeare, however, refers to it in the following lines, spoken by Sir Toby Belch:

'Go, write it in a martial hand; be curst and brief; it is no matter how witty, so it be eloquent and full of invention: taunt him with the license of ink: if thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss; and as many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in England, set 'em down: go, about it.' *

From this allusion we gather that this enormous piece of furniture had already acquired a good deal of notoriety in Shakespeare's time. Some popular fables are told concerning it, and the date 1463 has of recent years been painted on the lower part of the tester, but the bedstead is without doubt of sixteenth-century design and workmanship. It is possible that it may date from the days of Mary, but in all probability it was constructed during the reign of Elizabeth. Still, there are indications of the Renaissance about the details which render the date uncertain. The classic leaf-ornament painted on the cornice might well belong to the earlier period, while the interlaced strap on the pillars supporting the canopy is reminiscent of the 'paning' which characterized late Gothic. The bed is of enormous size, measuring over 7 feet 6 inches in height and nearly 11 feet square on its ground-plan. One of the popular traditions to which the public fondly cling is that the Great Bed of Ware has accommodated twenty-four people at a time. It is not on record how many of these two dozen unhappy occupants succeeded in sleeping. Curious and deeply interesting as this venerable relic is, it cannot be said that it shines greatly in respect of taste.