Great Bed of Ware facts for kids
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| Designer | Hans Vredeman de Vries Jonas Fosbrooke (carpenter) |
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| Date | c.1590-1600 |
| Made in | Ware, Hertfordshire, England (probably) |
| Materials | Oak, carved and originally painted Marquetry panels |
| Height | 267 cm (105 in) |
| Width | 326 cm (128 in) |
| Depth | 338 cm (133 in) |
| Collection | Victoria and Albert Museum no. W.47:1 to 28-1931 |
The Great Bed of Ware is a huge, famous bed made from oak wood. It is known for being very big and beautifully decorated. This special bed was built around 1590 by a carpenter named Jonas Fosbrooke in Ware, England.
The bed is about 3.38 meters (11 feet) long and 3.26 meters (10 feet) wide. That's about the size of a small room! It was so big that many people could sleep in it at the same time. Over the years, many people who slept in the bed carved their names into its wooden posts.
Contents
What Makes the Great Bed of Ware Special?
The Great Bed of Ware is not just big; it's also a work of art. It was made during a time called the Renaissance in Europe. This was a period when art and design became very popular.
A Giant Bed's Design
The bed is a type of four poster bed, which means it has four tall posts at each corner. It is also decorated with marquetry. Marquetry is a special way of decorating wood by adding small pieces of different colored wood to create patterns.
Art and Decorations
When the bed was first made, it was brightly painted with many colors. You can still see tiny bits of these old colors on some parts of the bed today. The patterns on the bed were inspired by the work of a Dutch artist named Hans Vredeman de Vries. English artists in London probably made the marquetry panels. The curtains and coverings on the bed today are new copies of what they would have looked like long ago.
The Bed's Journey Through Time
The Great Bed of Ware has had a long and interesting history. It has moved to many different places over the centuries.
From Inns to Museums
The bed first lived in an inn called the White Hart Inn in Ware. Later, it moved to another inn in Ware called the Saracen's Head. In 1870, a man named William Henry Teale bought the bed. He put it in his pleasure garden at Rye House. A pleasure garden was like a park where people went for fun.
When fewer people visited the garden in the 1920s, the bed was sold again. Today, the Great Bed of Ware is kept safe at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2012, it even went back to Ware for a year to be shown at the Ware Museum.
