One of the most unique and collectible casting , used on antique iron beds, was the “hollow wreath” casting. Generally speaking, if a bed has one of these type castings……. there’s a pretty good chance it’s a good bed. When foundries poured castings to complete the process of building iron beds, it’s done by hand…
A few years ago I got a email from a gentleman back in Central Pennsylvanos. He was looking for an Austere iron bed. He was quite specific on the style and design he wanted. He sent me sketches of the bed, that he’d drawn after actually having a dream about it. We discussed finishes etc. and as…
In the early 90’s I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and selling a number of iron beds to Whoopi Goldberg. At the time she had just started dating a high profile actor who I’d also sold a number of iron beds to over the years. I’d first sold him an iron bed for his…
What little girl hasn’t looked at her parents one day and said I want a “Princess” bed. Well being a parent I knew exactly what she meant. She meant a iron canopy bed. A remark like this usually came after seeing a Disney movie with a princess and her castle bedroom. Little girls have always…
If you’re searching for an antique iron bed and you’ve found one you like…….be sure it has a set of siderails. Now…… be sure and check to see that they fit…..perfectly. DO NOT take the dealers word for it. Have him set the iron bed up with the rails and make sure it doesn’t wobble…
For the longest time it was widely thought that most of the iron beds being produced back in the 1800’s, were coming out of the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania area. That thought was because the vast majority of steel production was also in Pittsburgh. But more and more is coming to light that many of the iron…
Here is a photo of a iron bed casting, before it was sandblasted, and the same iron bed casting after it has been sandblasted and refinished with our Black Smyth finish. Iron beds get the name from the cast iron castings that hold the design element of the iron bed together. When you hear about…
The tulip iron bed is probably one of the more prolific iron bed designs to have been copied and duplicated back in the 1800’s. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. That couldn’t be more true with this iron bed style. I’ve have at least 6 versions of this tulip iron bed. The…
Many people come to me with 3/4 size iron beds and want to know where they can have custom size mattresses made for them. First of all…… any mattress company will either make you a regular 3/4 size mattress or already have one that is readily available to buy. 3/4 size beds are not uncommon…
For those of you familiar with the store Restoration Hardware, I think we can all agree they do some great looking older vintage finishes. Not really your distressed setting by the barn for the past 200 years finishes, like we do on our iron beds. But some clean old looking finishes that are very rich…