Finally…about that bed! In an earlier post The Romance of Metal here I revealed my fascination with antique metal. In particular, Coup d’Etat here in San Francisco had found a set of c 1750 metal dress form cages that set my heart aflutter. So when I found this metal bed with a polonaise style canopy top reaching up 114 inches and large wood wheels, when searching for old metal parts on Ebay, I bought it immediately.
It was close enough to pick up, all parts dutifully transfered to me. The hardware was fascinating. I had already started to collect 17th and 18th c iron (in background) several years ago. Where I could, I’ve replaced the original bolts with new and held these aside for study and safe keeping. 
When I got it home I removed the layers of c. 1980 custom sewn fabric to find another layer of 19th c French fabric, and then a bottom layer of narrow, hand loomed rough jute or linen textile sewn to the iron oval top piece with an import stamp. My attempts to decipher it have failed so far! If anyone has any clues…please thrown them my way!
In December I dyed some of my linen/cotton Carolyn Quartermaine Script fabric for the top of the bed. I wanted to move it from perfectly ironed and white to a slightly parchment like rumpled, in a coolish neutral. Not too dark to obscure the script, but flexible enough for my antique textile mood swings!
For my Valentine’s day red mood: a trio of 19th century linen fabrics from Karin Jansky of La Pouyette. You can see some of her stock here. Above is a French linen ticking stripe mattress cover, a long length of grey and red striped Belgian linen, and an enormous German grainsack with beautiful print on both sides. To give you an idea of exactly how big the grainsack is…I stuffed it with a twin mattress feather bed that I had been trying to find a use for since my daughter tired of it on her bed years ago. I kept stuffing and stuffing and…all in!
Love the this tiny light blue edge detail on the ticking mattress.
This gorgeous 18th century block printed linen is so frail and patched, and it’s vulnerability makes it even more beautiful. From Morgaine Le Fay here and here. I am looking for the perfect piece of worn antique French chambray to back it.
The quilted linen toile is an 18th century piece called Chariot of the Dawn. Love the imagery of roses tossed before Apollo as he draws his chariot across the morning sky. Full of mythological figures. Every time I tried to buy a piece of this it would be sold. Luckily I now have this large piece which could be framed with additional fabric for a coverlet, or made into an enormous pillow…sans scissors! This was from Diane Thalmann here
My first Chariot of the Dawn piece, also 18th century and quilted, from Sallie Ead here and here, is a large, perfectly matched pelmet that I’m showing as a dust ruffle.
I have additional bolts of 18th and 19th century linen and sheets from both Karin and Wendy Lewis of The Textile Trunk so I have too many ideas bouncing around my head for this bed! To be continued! My resolution in 2013 is to buy only what I need or love. Between that and sharing all my favorite sources with you, it slows down my “finds”…which is just fine by me.
If you love 18th porcelain there is my “Private Collector’s Sale of 18th century French Porcelain” here. The gorgeous 18th century Polonaise daybed, with hand sewn seed pearls on the organza, has sold, as well as a few porcelain pieces. I will update the page as soon as I get confirmation.
If you want to see more 18th porcelain eye candy you can go here to see a recent auction in England of the 150 piece Tryhorn Collection…or Bardith’s collection of antique European porcelain in NY here or here
Happy early Valentine’s everyone!
I’ve shown you the blue early 18th “Bizarre” silk from Carolyn Forbes 
