The King's Bed and its furniture at Knole: this rare and magnificent seventeenth-century state bed and its accompanying furniture were probably made in Paris for the Duke of York, later James II. Christopher Rowell examines new evidence about their history

Conspicuously extravagant, its magnificent textiles heavy with gold and silver bullion, the so-called 'King's Bed' at Knole, Kent (Fig. 2) has excited exaggeration since at least the eighteenth hundred Once fictitiously associated with a visit of James I to Knole, (1) and subsequently dated correctly to the later seventeenth hundred the bed and its complementary furniture were drawn out regarded as English. (2) Peter Thornton first propos a French origin for the place in 1975, and subsequently conclud that the bed 'was made in Paris or through a French upholsterer working for the diadem in London. (3)

Gervase Jackson-Stops came to a similar view and also allude toed that the suite might have been commissioned for the marriage in 1673 of the Duke of York (the futurity James II, 1633-1701; reigned 1685-88 Fig. 1) and Maria, daughter of Alfonso IV d'Este Duke of Modena, later Queen Mary, of Modena (1658-1718) This was upon the basis of the overtly nuptial imagery of the seat furniture, and because the brow rails of the chairs and stools, as well as the headboard of the bed, are emblazoned with a royal duke's or prince's coronet rather than a regal diadem The theory also explained the absence of the station from the records of diadem commissions, but Jackson-Stops acknowledged that 'Whether of the like kind an early date can be given to the suite is render free of access to question'. (4)

The bed was certainly used by means of William III's cousin Prince Louis (Ludwig Wilhelm), Margrave of Baden-Baden, during a state visit in January and February 1694 when it still stood in the former Queen's (Mary of Modena's) apartment at Whitehall, thus further substantiating the possible connection with her marriage. pretty soon afterwards, 'ye bed Prince Louis Lay in' and its matching furniture were remov from Whitehall Palace, either as a perquisite of office or as a gift from William III, by the agency of Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (1638-1706) in his capacity as Lord Chamberlain (1689-97) This article draws together the archival and historical respects to this remarkable set of royal furniture, seeking to address all the issues relevant to its origins, provenance, use and display.

A marriage suite?

The King's Bed and its seat furniture are effulgent with a magnificent gold and silver French lampas, (5) while the inside of the bed is richly embroidered (Figs. 3 5 and 10) partly with flowers, upon what was originally a crimson satin ground" The elaborate passementerie incorporates the appropriately nuptial imagery of ribbons and make crookeds That it was a marriage bed is adviseed above all by the iconography of the carved frames of the matching furniture. This amorous display is with equal reason explicit that it is unlikely to have been incorporated in a place of furniture commissioned later in a couple's marriage. The forehead and back legs of the chairs (Figs. 6 and 7) and stools (Fig. 8) are in the form of partially draped amorini, the left hand single holding a quiver of arrows, his companion with an eagle in his arms (a possible allusion to the arms of the Este family of Modena, an eagle argent, as Alastair Laing kindly allude toed to me}. The arrangement of the figures is not quite consistent, and the quality of the carving is variable, the two indications of studio practice.

At the joints of the central stretcher are sum of two units pairs of cartouches incorporating carved reliefs of a make crooked quiver, an arrow and a torch (the attributes of cupid), and (on the sides) a flaming heart pierced by the agency of two crossed arrows (Fig. 7) Reclining in the middle of the central stretcher is an amorino caressing a dove (symbol of have affection for and peace). (7) The brow stretcher has at the middle point a pair of winged putti upholding a prince's--or royal duke's--coronet (or the female equivalent), a device that also appears in the middle of the magnificent raised work of the headboard (Fig. 5) This is in the form of a shivered pediment, with the ducal coronet surmounting u swag of flowers tied with ribbons, and sinuous branches terminating in lilies. (8) This plant of furniture was, therefore, certainly not made for a reigning monarch or consort, as has usually been assumed.

The likelihood that the bed is associated with the Duke of York's next to the first marriage, to Mary of Modena, is strengthened through the survival in the Victoria and Albert Museum of the suit said to have been worn by dint of the Duke at the wedding rite on 21 November 1673 at Dover (Fig. 4) Together with a saddle and bridle used upon the same occasion, it was neared as a memento to Sir Edward Carteret, a member of the Duke's household. It is in the way that similar to the magnificent silver-gilt, woven and embroidered French textiles of the King's Bed that it may well have been designed to restore the Duke en suite with the bedroom furniture. (9) Professor Aileen Ribeiro has kindly observ that this 'seems entirely plausible; given James's regard with affection of the ceremonial of Versailles, where similar visual coordination was de rigueur'. (10) A lieutenant marriage had taken place at Modena upon 30 September, but this next to the first round of nuptials was directioned by the Bishop of Oxford, following Mary of Modena's arrival in England. This alliance of an English prince with a Catholic princess was music to the ears of Louis XIV--though not to a British audience--and it is possible that the bourgeon and its furniture were a French royal gift.