Bedstead
"I give and bequeath to my grandson George Washington Parke Custis…the new bedstead which I caused to be made in Philadelphia together with the bed, mattress bolsters and pillows and white dimity curtains belonging thereto…" - Martha Washington's Will
This generously-sized bedstead's tall, slender, turned posts, devoid of any carving, exemplify the elegant, neat and plain style the Washingtons favored. It is the only piece of furniture Martha Washington is documented as having been involved with purchasing. During the winter, it was hung with durable dimity curtains to ensure warmth and privacy, while netting installed in the warmer months kept insects out but permitted cool evening air to flow through. After George Washington died in this bed on December 14, 1799, Martha moved to a small, third-floor bedroom and never again entered their bedchamber.
Draped in white striped dimity with white fringe.
Published ReferencesChristine Meadows, "The Furniture." Antiques 135, no. 2 (February 1989): 485-86, pl. IX.
Helen Maggs Fede. Washington Furniture at Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, VA: 1966), 64-66, figs. 52-53.
Marion Day Iverson, The American Chair, 1630-1890 (New York: Hastings House, 1957), 214, 222, fig. 169.
Benson J. Lossing, Mount Vernon and Its Associations, Historical, Biographical and Pictorial (New York: 1859), 323-24.
Benson J. Lossing, "Arlington House, the Seat of George Washington Parke Custis, Esq.," Harper's New Monthly Magazine 7, no. 40 (September 1853): 443.
