October 24, 2007 – 2:21 pm
This article appeared in This Old House magazine in 2004, but still gives some great insight into brass and iron beds from famed Antiques Roadshow expert Leigh Keno’s site. You can see the article in its original context here. And by the way, he does mentions us…..
Brass and Metal Beds: These Victorian-era favorites retain their charm This Old House
May, 2004
Back in the 1970s, when Leigh and I attended Brimfield, the huge antiques fair in western Massachusetts, we’d see old metal bedsteads getting snatched up the second they were loaded off of pickup trucks. With their elegant brass tubing and finials or elaborate iron scrollwork, these beds were hot commodities as a generation tired of postwar modernism rediscovered Victoriana. People still find the idea of sleeping in a big brass bed utterly romantic.
FROM BATTLE TO BOUDOIR
Among the earliest metal beds were “campaign” beds that could be dismantled for military officers on the move. In the mid 1800s, manufacturers developed several methods for making collapsible beds out of hollow tubes of steel, iron, and brass. Makers boasted that they would not “harbour vermin”, a virtue that appealed not only to troops in tropical outposts but to civilians: Bedbugs, which hide in crevices of wooden beds, were the bane of every household.
But what really sparked brass-bed mania was London’s Great Exhibition of 1851, when millions of visitors viewed Queen Victoria’s brass bed at the Crystal Palace. In 1855, Charles P. Rogers opened a New York City showroom, where he sold $50 brass beds to the carriage trade. For average folk there were less expensive iron beds, or iron beds with brass trim. Styles ranged from institutional vertical bars to elaborate scrollwork.
By 1890, however, styles were shifting and metal beds were becoming passé. Hygiene and sanitation had improved, so vermin were less of a concern. The First World War generally spelled the end of metal beds, as their raw material was needed for armaments.
TESTING YOUR METAL
Today you can find antique metal beds in specialty shops and at flea markets and antiques shows. But shop carefully. The few brass models that surface are often in bad shape, the thin brass tubing painted, cracked, oxidized, or polished to oblivion. Beds with the original finish - a deep yellow-gold - are most prized. Ask a dealer where the bed came from; if it’s been in someone’s house for four generations, that’s a good sign. You’re more likely to find a cast-iron bed with brass plating, or with brass tubing and finials used as trim. Simple beds may go for a few hundred dollars, but an elaborate brass or iron design in perfect condition may cost as much as $15,000.
Most antique metal bedsteads fit only a twin or full mattress - iron side rails can be extended to take a queen mattress set on top of wooden slats, if you don’t mind it overlapping the sides. Extending a metal bedstead for a king- or queen-sized mattress is possible, but such an alteration will decrease the bed’s value. “The most important thing,” says John Perrino, owner of Brass Bed Boutique, in Canton, Connecticut, “is to make sure you have the right side rails so the bed is nice and sturdy. If the bed is shaky and leans in or out, you have the wrong ones.”
Uncoated brass will tarnish, though many people this patina very desirable. Antique brass can be lacquered to keep it from tarnishing; just be sure to have the process done by a professional refurbisher of metal beds.
THE CASE FOR REPRODUCTIONS
As much as we love the idea of antique metal beds, we have to admit that sometimes they’6re not practical. Fortunately, the better reproductions can be as beautiful as the originals. Look for beds that have heavy-gauge tubing and solid castings, with steel rods at the connecting points. Expect to pay between $1,500 and $5,000 for top-of-the-line brass models; iron beds go for $800 to $2,600. Some manufacturers offer brass with an antiqued finish or lacquered brass that will retain its bright-yellow shine.
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