{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O79038"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O79038/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL6109/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL6109/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AL6109","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KK8302","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O79038/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O79038","accessionNumber":"W.4-1920","objectType":"Bedpost","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>Beds of this period - except for the most humble examples -  usually had curtains and a tester, a form of roof supported by four posts. The more lavish the textiles, the grander the bed. Most of the woodwork was plain and functional but the front posts, which were visible, were sometimes lavishly carved. <br><br><b>Time</b><br>This bed post  is a very important early example of the use of classical motifs in England, at a time when the Gothic style still dominated in furniture and architecture. The profile medallion heads, candelabra motifs and drops of fruit all indicate the new interest in classical decoration. <br><br> From about 1500, as conditions became more stable, rich households moved less from one property to another than they had done in the Middle Ages. This bed was probably intended to stay up in one house, rather than be moved on a regular basis. It is unlikely to be a travelling bed since there are no holes for the bolt or large peg at the base that kept the bed stable once it had been reassembled. <br><br><b>Owners</b><br>The blending of classical and Gothic would have been considered the height of fashion, almost verging on the avant garde, in about 1520. It is therefore likely that the bed would have been owned by a courtier, senior cleric or rich merchant.","physicalDescription":"Carved oak bedpost","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oak","id":"AAT12264"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved oak","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AL6109","2017KK8302"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES341860"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bed post","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1520","earliest":"1515-01-01","latest":"1524-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"W.4A-1920","id":"O80447"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"184.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"9.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"10","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions checked: Measured; 18/12/1998 by JC","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Made in England","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Carved bedpost, English, ca. 1520","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Cescinsky, Herbert and Ernest Gribble, <i>Early English Furniture and Woodwork</i>. II vols. London: Waverley Books, 1922, vol. I, p. 357, fig. 389"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThe carver of this bed post has created crude, flat, classical ornament, similar to candelabra and profile heads, but has not succeeded in making a successful version of a classical pier. The base is still decorated with the traditional Gothic form of tracery rather than the fashionable classical mouldings.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["W.4-1920"],"accessionNumberNum":"4","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1920,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-25","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-27","availableToBook":true}}