OBJECT FILE
The Great Bed of Ware
FOLLOWV&A South Kensington, British Galleries, London, England, United Kingdom
THE OBJECT
An oak four-poster of about 1590, 3.38 m long and 3.26 m wide, carved with marquetry after Hans Vredeman de Vries and covered in the names guests carved into it. Built, by tradition, by the Ware carpenter Jonas Fosbrooke, it stood in Ware's inns — the White Hart, then the Saracen's Head — was a pleasure-garden attraction at Rye House from 1870, and was bought by the V&A in 1931. Shakespeare names it in Twelfth Night.
REPORTED ACTIVITY
The bed is 'reputedly haunted by the ghost of its alleged maker, Jonas Fosbrooke, who is said to harass any non-royal person who attempts to sleep in the bed' (Wikipedia, Ware, Hertfordshire). The ghost is folklore; the bed's history from 1590 is documented.
WHERE IT IS NOW
On public display — kept by Victoria and Albert Museum. V&A South Kensington, British Galleries, London, England, United Kingdom.
PROVENANCE · 4 ENTRIES
TRACE ON THE MAP →1590 — CURRENT LOCATION
POSSIBLE LOCATIONThe White Hart Inn
White Hart Inn, Ware, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
'About 1590' — year approximate. When it moved to the Saracen's Head, another Ware inn, is not dated ('by the 19th century'), so that step is not recorded.
Source: Wikipedia, Great Bed of Ware ('Built by the Hertfordshire carpenter Jonas Fosbrooke about 1590 … originally housed in the White Hart Inn')
1800 – 1870
POSSIBLE LOCATIONThe Saracen's Head
Saracen's Head inn, Ware, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Date approximate: 'by the 19th century'.
Source: Wikipedia, Great Bed of Ware ('By the 19th century, the bed had been moved from the White Hart Inn to the Saracen's Head, another Ware inn')
1870 – 1931
William Henry Teale
Rye House pleasure garden, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Year-level. Sold when the garden declined in the 1920s.
Source: Wikipedia, Great Bed of Ware ('In 1870, William Henry Teale, the owner of the Rye House, acquired the bed and put it to use in a pleasure garden … When interest in the garden waned in the 1920s, the bed was sold')
1931 — CURRENT LOCATION
Victoria and Albert Museum
V&A South Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom
Year-level. Lent to Ware Museum for a year in 2012–13 and returned.
Source: Wikipedia, Great Bed of Ware ('In 1931, it was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum'); Ware Museum ('acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1931, where it remains')
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS · 0
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