Miniature bed, baby house bed

This miniature four poster bed is taken from the first floor bedroom of the dolls' house originally owned by Lady Anne Blackett. 'Baby houses' were often miniature replicas of real country houses with the interiors reproduced to scale.

The mahogany bed frame features decorative screw-on pineapple-shaped finials on the posts. The silk taffeta curtains are suspended by rings from a rail under the tester. The bed has two mattresses, linen sheets and wool blankets. Four-poster beds were very expensive and the inclusion of a miniature version illustrates how dolls' houses reflected the social status of their owners. The Blacketts would have had a real four-poster bed like this at Matfen Hall.