Neoclassical Bed in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, July 2011

Bed

Design attributed to: Thomas Hope (1769–1831)

English

Regency

about 1800–10

Object Place: London, England

Medium/Technique: Oak and pine veneered with mahogany and painted black, patinated bronze
mounts; modern upholstery

Dimensions: Overall: 137.2 x 123.2 x 243.8 cm (54 x 48 1/2 x 96 in.)

Credit Line Museum purchase with funds donated anonymously and by exchange from a gift given in memory of Dr. William Hewson Baltzell, by his wife Alice Cheney Baltzell, Gift of the Estate of Gertrude T. Taft, Gift of Eben Howard Gay, Helen and Alice Colburn Fund, Gift of Eben Howard Gay, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald M. Ferry, Bequest of Mrs. Harriet J. Bradbury, Bequest of Susan Greene Dexter in memory of Charles and Martha Babcock Amory, The Elizabeth Day McCormick Collection, Gift of Miss Anna C. Hoyt, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maxim Karolik, Gift of Eugene L. Garbáty, Bequest of Mrs. Thomas O. Richardson, Bequest of George Nixon Black, Gift of Fred Parker and Mary C. Emery, The John Pickering Lyman Collection. Gift of Miss Theodora Lyman, Gift of Mrs. Sidney T. Allen, Gift of Mrs. John Adlen Carpenter, Gift of Dudley Leavitt Pickman, Harriet Otis Cruft Fund, Gift of Mrs. Ruth Kellogg Ferry, Gift of Mrs. Horatio Appleton Lamb in memory of Mrs. Winthrop Sargent, Gift of Miss Evelyn Sears and Gift of Mrs. Albert J. Beveridge in memory of Delia Spencer Field

Accession Number: 2003.258

Collections: Europe

Classifications: Furniture – Seating and beds

This bed is among the most original pieces of English Regency furniture. Dominant in English interiors from about 1800 to 1830, the Regency style perpetuated the classical taste of the late eighteenth century but was more academic and archaeologically correct. This bed closely resembles furnishings designed by Thomas Hope - collector, connoisseur, and a pivotal figure in the classical revival of Regency England - for one of his residences. Its architectural form and bronze mounts derive from ancient and Renaissance models. The greyhounds, however, are inspired by medieval tomb sculpture and exemplify the more romantic interpretation of historical sources characteristic of Hope's influential furniture designs. The bed may have been used for resting - a day bed - or for sleeping. The modern upholstery recreates elaborate examples in Rudolf Ackermann's “The Repository of the Arts,” an influential periodical during the Regency period.

Provenance: November 25, 1997, sold at Phillips, London, lot 225 and bought by Pelham Galleries, London. Private collection, United States. By 2003, with Pelham Galleries, London; 2003, sold by Pelham Galleries to the MFA. (Accession date: June 25, 2003)

Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/402103/bed