GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Gothic Revival bedstead from Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is one of the greatest expressions of the Gothic Revival style in American furniture known to exist. It stands not only as a work of great craftsmanship but also as a powerful symbol of the political and social aspirations of the era. The bedstead was commissioned in 1844 by a group of Whig Party supporters as part of a suite of bedroom furniture destined for the White House with Henry Clay had he won the election that year. When Clay lost, his good friend Daniel Turnbull, a wealthy Louisiana cotton planter, purchased the set and brought it to his plantation in St. Francisville on the Mississippi River. Made in Philadelphia by Crawford Riddell (d. 1849), the bedstead is the most imposing and highly carved piece in the suite, which originally consisted of a dressing bureau, a double-door armoire, a cheval mirror, two marble-top washstands, an octagonal table, and six side chairs.
Adapted from
DMA unpublished material.
NOTES
I updated Provenance, Bibliography, and Published References in TMS.
I added the following as a TMS Text Entry: Bonnie Pitman, ed. Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 186.
tagged UMOs (HAB 1/5/17); no status tags, added both #incomplete and #draft on 4/11/17 to push to google docs (HAB)
cleaned up formatting and tags, updated provenance and geo x refs in TMS, HAB 8/28/2017
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1844-d. 1896: Daniel (d. 1861) and Martha Turnbull (d. 1896), Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, purchased from Crawford Riddell for $1,300
1896-d. 1914: their daughter Sarah (née Turnbull) (d.1914), Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents [2]
1914-d. 1955: her daughters, Sarah, Bella, and Nina Bowman (d. 1955), Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents [2]
1955-1956: her nephews, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents
1956-d. 1982: Milton (1901-1982) and Mary Catherine Fondren (1908-1970) Underwood, Houston, Texas, by purchase of Rosedown Plantation and its contents from the above
1982-1994: their son, David Underwood, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents [X]
1994-2000: Gene Slivka, Julianton Plantation, Townsend, Georgia, by purchase of the Rosedown Plantation and its contents from the above
From 2000: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from the above for $450,000 [XX]
[1] XXX
[2] Elizabeth K. Dart, "The Seven Faces of Rosedown," Country Roads, March 2001
[X] Keith Marshall, "The rise and fall of Rosedown," The Times-Picayune, November 19, 2000, E1, 3-4.
[XX] Wendy Moonan, "A Gothic Tale of a Bedstead Fit for a President," The New York Times, November 3, 2000.
AUDIO ASSETS
13312876: UMO
Edward F. Countryman and Stephen G. Harrison, Lecture, "Gothic Revival Bed: Fit for a President," 2001
13316451: UMO
Alton Bowman, Lecture, "Recent Conservation Projects," 2001
VIDEO ASSETS
Curator Kevin Tucker discusses this bed.
DMA.mobi (file: dma_431185.m4v)
See this bed being installed in the galleries
DMA.mobi (file: dma_441882.m4v)
Conservator T. K. McClintock discusses the mid-19th century wallpaper applied to the underside of the bed's canopy. [EDITING REQUIRED]
UMO: 12933569
IMAGE ASSETS
[The Gothic Revival bed resided in the Rosedown Plantation in Saint Francisville, Louisiana from 1845 until 2000, when it was purchased by the Dallas Museum of Art. Source: By Richard Koch [Public Domain], via Wikimedia Commons, accessed May 15, 2015, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARosedown_Plantation%2C_Saint_Francisville_(West_Feliciana_Parish%2C_Louisiana).jpg.]
.jpg.){kind=link}
SCAN/ADD ARCHIVAL PHOTOS OF BED
WEB RESOURCES
- New York Times~Read an announcement of the Dallas Museum of Art's acquisition of this bed.
- DMA Uncrated~This bed was featured in the post "From Sea to Shining Sea."
- National Park Service~Read a history of Rosedown Plantation.
- National Portrait Gallery~View a portrait of Henry Clay by Chester Harding.
- The Library of Congress~Explore resources related to Henry Clay available in the digital collections of the Library of Congress.
- Wildscreen Arkive~Learn about Brazilian rosewood, one of the woods used to create this bed.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
Conservators spent more than 1,600 hours repairing and restoring the bed to its original condition.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 2000.324
Category
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General Description
The Gothic Revival bedstead from Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is one of the greatest expressions of the Gothic Revival style in American furniture known to exist. It stands not only as a work of great craftsmanship but also as a powerful symbol of the political and social aspirations of the era. The bedstead was commissioned in 1844 by a group of Whig Party supporters as part of a suite of bedroom furniture destined for the White House with Henry Clay had he won the election that year. When Clay lost, his good friend Daniel Turnbull, a wealthy Louisiana cotton planter, purchased the set and brought it to his plantation in St. Francisville on the Mississippi River. Made in Philadelphia by Crawford Riddell (d. 1849), the bedstead is the most imposing and highly carved piece in the suite, which originally consisted of a dressing bureau, a double-door armoire, a cheval mirror, two marble-top washstands, an octagonal table, and six side chairs.
Adapted from
DMA unpublished material.
Fun Facts
Conservators spent more than 1,600 hours repairing and restoring the bed to its original condition.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- New York Times~Read an announcement of the Dallas Museum of Art's acquisition of this bed.
- DMA Uncrated~This bed was featured in the post "From Sea to Shining Sea."
- National Park Service~Read a history of Rosedown Plantation.
- National Portrait Gallery~View a portrait of Henry Clay by Chester Harding.
- The Library of Congress~Explore resources related to Henry Clay available in the digital collections of the Library of Congress.
- Wildscreen Arkive~Learn about Brazilian rosewood, one of the woods used to create this bed.
Notes
I updated Provenance, Bibliography, and Published References in TMS.
I added the following as a TMS Text Entry: Bonnie Pitman, ed. Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), 186.
tagged UMOs (HAB 1/5/17); no status tags, added both #incomplete and #draft on 4/11/17 to push to google docs (HAB)
cleaned up formatting and tags, updated provenance and geo x refs in TMS, HAB 8/28/2017
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
1844-d. 1896: Daniel (d. 1861) and Martha Turnbull (d. 1896), Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, purchased from Crawford Riddell for $1,300
1896-d. 1914: their daughter Sarah (née Turnbull) (d.1914), Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents [2]
1914-d. 1955: her daughters, Sarah, Bella, and Nina Bowman (d. 1955), Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents [2]
1955-1956: her nephews, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents
1956-d. 1982: Milton (1901-1982) and Mary Catherine Fondren (1908-1970) Underwood, Houston, Texas, by purchase of Rosedown Plantation and its contents from the above
1982-1994: their son, David Underwood, by inheritance of Rosedown Plantation and its contents [X]
1994-2000: Gene Slivka, Julianton Plantation, Townsend, Georgia, by purchase of the Rosedown Plantation and its contents from the above
From 2000: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from the above for $450,000 [XX]
[1] XXX
[2] Elizabeth K. Dart, "The Seven Faces of Rosedown," Country Roads, March 2001
[X] Keith Marshall, "The rise and fall of Rosedown," The Times-Picayune, November 19, 2000, E1, 3-4.
[XX] Wendy Moonan, "A Gothic Tale of a Bedstead Fit for a President," The New York Times, November 3, 2000.
AUDIO ASSETS
13312876: UMO
Edward F. Countryman and Stephen G. Harrison, Lecture, "Gothic Revival Bed: Fit for a President," 2001
13316451: UMO
Alton Bowman, Lecture, "Recent Conservation Projects," 2001
VIDEO ASSETS
Curator Kevin Tucker discusses this bed.
DMA.mobi (file: dma_431185.m4v)
See this bed being installed in the galleries
DMA.mobi (file: dma_441882.m4v)
Conservator T. K. McClintock discusses the mid-19th century wallpaper applied to the underside of the bed's canopy. [EDITING REQUIRED]
UMO: 12933569
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
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2000.324
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