Many iron beds, made back in the 1800’s ,were quite prolific. But the “painted cylinder” beds, being made in the UK surely wasn’t one of them. As I’ve mentioned in previous postings, the iron beds being made in England back in the 1800’s , were far inferior in their strength, quality and design, in comparison to those iron beds being made in this country at the same time. But the “painted cylinder” iron beds being made in England ,were some of the more unique they produced.
The unique thing about the “painted cylinder” iron beds ,from the UK ,was that each one had round brass cylinders that were individually hand painted. This particular one has blue leafs and flowers painted on it. Many of the British iron beds had the traditional corner brass collars, corner brass balls, and curved top brass bar. They also used 2″ diameter side poles much of the time in there iron beds for stability. The thickness of the wall of the tubing in the UK was much thinner than the thick wall we used in our, so consequently they made their tubing diameter larger. As you can see …..the castings on their beds weren’t anywhere near as detailed as our castings were. Iron beds in this country had a much more solid feel.
But no one can deny how different and unique the British Cylinder beds were.
