On Oct.28th, 1886 the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor. It was a gift from the French as a symbol of liberty in the United States. But between 1876 to 1882, before the statue was even erected, the torch bearing arm and head were being displayed at numerous fund raising events throughout the United States. Because of these displays, people were exposed to what the statue was going to look like and started incorporating it into their own furnishing designs etc. Iron beds were no exception and the “torch” became a very popular motif on the corner casting. New York decorators were particularly smitten with the statues appeal and worked it’s theme into many of their jobs. It wasn’t unusual for every New York household to have something commemorating the statue at that period. New York decorators, who were known for their avant-garde forward thinking design sense found themselves scrambling to incorporate the statues appeal in everything from the beds they choose for a job to the wallpaper the selected. Here are a couple of corner castings with the torch theme that foundries started using during that dedication period.
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