Late 19th Century French Rococo Style White Painted and Parcel Gilt King Size Bed

Fine quality late 19th century / early 20th century French Rococo style white painted and parcel gilt king size bed. French Circa 1900 This superb quality king size bed is decorated throughout in a white and gilt scheme, the headboard having been upholstered in complementary gold coloured damask. Made around the turn of the 20th century, this piece is very much in the Louis XV style and is likely to have been made in Paris by one of the leading makers of the period. The asymmetrical scroll work is beautifully executed and well balanced and would have been intended to complement the boiserie of a bedroom of the time. It is interesting to think about this piece in the context of such landmark developments as the opening of the Ritz hotel in London in 1906, decorated largely in a similar French rococo revival style. The bed stands on gilded lions' paw front feet, their musculature and the hairy forelocks also being imitated by the talented carvers responsible for the bed. On the sides of the piece are panels of gilt trellis work as well as further panelled scrollwork. In the centre of the headboard is a large bas relief panel comprising a group of putti/amorini (cherubs) at play with a chariot and flowers. This is a clear allusion to love, particularly appropriate for use on a double bed. The cresting of the headrail is a masterpiece of rococo revival carving, powerful in its distinctive asymmetry. This bed has enormous visual presence but it is also very practical and comfortable to use. It retains the majority of its original paint work and gilding and pays homage to the masters of the Louis XV period, subtly updated and refined for a new generation who had fallen in love with the creations of the past. At this time French furniture was once again probably the most desirable and fashionable throughout the western world and the Parisian workshops of the period responded by producing a succession of masterful re-workings of classics of the past. This bed is a prime example. Width: 103 inches - 262cm Height: 61 1/2 inches - 156cm Depth: 70 inches - 177cm