382 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



October, 1907 



The Nineteenth Century Bedroom 



By Esther Singleton 



N comparison with former 

 centuries, the nineteenth 

 century was somewhat bar- 

 ren in distinctive styles. Its 

 dawn found Sheraton furni- 

 ture in high favor; and in 

 fashionable houses this style 

 was very soon supplanted by the Empire. 

 The designs of Percier and Fontaine, in 

 France, and the works of Thomas Hope, in 

 England, quickly familiarized the buying 

 public with the latest adaptations of Greek 

 and Roman decoration. The fashion plates 

 of the period show that the Empire style 

 lasted, with modifications, far into the cen- 

 tury. Its forms, on the whole, grew 

 heavier and clumsier, and the applied or- 

 naments in gilt and bronze were dropped, 

 till nothing but ugliness remained. 



Heavy mahogany beds of tomb-like pro- 

 portions, massive wardrobes, big box-like 

 washhand stands of the same wood, and 

 solid chairs, with an occasional rocker, fur- 

 nished the average bedroom. This was 

 supplemented by a big cheval glass and a 

 dressing-table which was adorned with the 

 old eighteenth century toilet. The floor 

 was covered with a hideous Brussels, Axminster or Kidder- 

 minster carpet, and the windows were curtained. 



Side by side with the Empire style a spurious Gothic was 

 trying to make itself felt, as may be seen in the fashion 

 plates of the day. I'his, however, was affected only by the 

 wealthy, on account of the cost of the carved work. Down 

 to i860 a bedroom of the upper middle class in England and 

 America presented an odd mixture of styles. Many men 









9 





mm 



il 











2 — The Heavy Mahogany Furniture of the Early Part of the Century 



1 Heppelwhite Bed ; Chairs Reminiscent of Sheraton ; Nondescript Table 



still living remember in their childhood to have slept with 

 a brother in a trundle-bed, pulled out at night from under 

 an old curtained four-poster. The fourposted bedstead, with 

 carved or turned posts, or "sweep top," is still to be found 

 in many houses. 



The nineteenth century bedroom, before the general use 

 of iron or brass bedsteads, contained articles of several styles, 

 such as Heppelwhite, Sheraton and Empire, side by side. In 

 fact, at the present day the same thing may 

 be seen. A glance at the accompanying 

 illustrations will show this. 



The heavy mahogany furniture in use in 

 the early part of the century is well exem- 

 plified in the illustrations Nos. 2 and 3. 

 Even in these rooms, however, we notice 

 simple forms of the Windsor chair, which 

 date back to the early years of the preced- 

 ing century, and have persisted to the pres- 

 ent day in kitchens. The Windsor rocker 

 may also be seen in No. 5, which contains 

 a good example of the nineteenth century 

 toilet-table. In this room also may be seen 

 a couple of chairs in the Sheraton style and 

 a Heppelwhite bed, showing his character- 

 istic "sweep top." Heppelwhite, however, 

 would have put his drapery over the 

 "sweeps" instead of under, as here ar- 

 ranged. 



Another form of Heppelwhite bed ap- 

 pears in No. I, where the chairs are 

 reminiscent of Sheraton and the table is 

 nondescript. The heavily upholstered 

 "wing-chair," which we find in bedrooms 

 in thousands of inventories through the 

 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, ap- 



