The Red Bed

The Red Bed is a piece of painted furniture designed by the English architect and designer William Burges^[1] made between 1865 and 1867. Built of mahogany, painted blood red and decorated with imagery of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale,^[1] it was made for Burges's rooms at Buckingham Street, and later moved to his bedroom at The Tower House, the home he designed for himself in Holland Park. Burges wanted to fill his home with furniture decorated with paintings; they served not only their obvious practical purposes, “but spoke and told a story”.^[2] After catching a chill while engaged on works for the Marquess of Bute at Cardiff,^[3] Burges returned to the Tower House and died in the Red Bed, aged 53, on 20 April 1881.^[4]

The Red Bed

The Red Bed, in which Burges died on 20 April 1881
Designer	William Burges
Date	1865-1867
Made in	London, England
Materials	Mahogany, carved and painted
Style / tradition	High Victorian Gothic, Pre-Raphaelite
Collection	The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford

The bed is now part of the collection of Burges furniture at The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum in Bedford.^[2]

Notes

1. Crook 2013, p. 338.
2. UKSO 2011.
3. Thistlewood, Jevon. "An Examination of William Burges's Great Bookcase" (PDF). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
4. Crook 2013, p. 341.

References

• Crook, J. Mordaunt (2013). William Burges and the High Victorian Dream. Francis Lincoln. ISBN 978-0-7112-3349-2.
• UK Stationery Office (2011). Export of Objects of Cultural Interest 2010/11: 1 May 2010 - 30 April 2011. The Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-10-851100-4.