BED SIMPLE

HERE ARE TWO FRENCH IDEAS FOR DECORATING 4 POSTER BEDS.  THE SECOND  WAS FOR A ROOM THAT HAD NO CEILING, PLASTER CEILINGS WERE A LATE LUXURY AND THE BED WAS OPEN TO CRUEL DRAUGHTS AND THE DEBRI OF BIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE SO A SIMPLE COVERING OVERHEAD WAS RATHER NECESSARY.

   The first bed is dressed in the well-known antique fabric known as Ikat, woven with a   technique learnt from the far East where the threads are tie-dyed before being placed on the loom and this gives the weave a delightfully informal variation of the main pattern, usually a sort of starburst design encorporated in a wide stripe.   Most of this 'Siamoise' pattern is in indigo blue and is either late 18th or early 19C and it was often used for grand double beds, tho' these were normally only 4ft wide and were often made in pairs for the master bedroom.   It is normally in very fine cotton and suited to screening the top half of the bed.  I have had many different versions of the the stripes and 'stars' and it seems to have been produced by many  factories.   The second bed is also from a typical small cotton factory and is known as Toile de Vichy, and comes in most primary colours.  This example is from the Landes, a poor and rather desolate land behind Biarritz, where the soil is sandy and only pine trees grow well and the inhabitants worked in the forest, often gathering the sticky sap of the pines in little conical clay pots strapped to the slashed tree trunk for the production of paraffin.  Their houses were almost entirely made of wood with small windows because of the sun heat, and they often obscured the light with very dark red and navy blue checks and wide stripes which are quite distinctive.   There is a good eco-museum there.
The  Ikat fabric is often trimmed with a bright red bias trim, both on the scallops and on the piping for cushions - and I have sold masses of garden and conservatory cushions like that.  This works very well and 'lifts' the dark blue!  The valances, cover and pelmets on these old beds were nearly always quilted to be warm and cosy, but the curtains are just lined with plain linen or hemp to hang well and be easy to wash.

THE FINE COTTON ON THE LEFT IS FROM THE LANDES IN S.WEST OF FRANCE AND WAS MUCH USED FOR WINDOW AND BED HANGINGS, KEEPING THE ROOMS COOL AND DARK.The trim I used to decorate the fabric for cushions is an elaborate machine embroidered border, woven in mid19C.and often used to protect the hems of the long petticoats worn then from the mud and dust of the unmade roads
THIS PIECE FOR SALE AND ALSO SOME OF THE IKAT SHOWN ABOVE.  eMAIL   dbaer@onetel.com.