Description:
White knotted/netted bed tester made by Mrs. Gertrude Cochrane Smith (1875-1956) of Deerfield (David Dickinson House) during the Arts and Crafts movement in Deerfield. See also HD F.346 and HD 2009.19.2. Smith made and sold several netted testers like this example. Netted testers to adorn the tops, or testers, of four poster beds, were introduced into Deerfield's Arts and Crafts industry through Emma Henry (1843-1927), born Lucy Emerine Amidon. She was self taught and influenced later practioners, including Gertrude Cochrane Smith, Rachel Hawks (1887-1977), and Margery Howe. By the middle of the 20th century, many erroneously believed that netted testers like this example recreated earlier, 18th-century examples, when in fact they did not, and were an invention of the Colonial Revival.While the netting technique was old, the practice of decorating testers with netted and notted fringe was a deocrative solutions to four-poster beds still in use where valences and bed curtains were no longer practical or fashionable.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Cotton Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+69.1189 |
