It’s not hard to see: the dominant element in this room is the bed. It’s a vast imperial bed, used solely on ceremonial occasions and designed to convey the greatest possible prestige. It was meant to be admired – but nobody actually slept in it. The artistic design of the entire State Bedroom proceeded from this bed.
Once again, the crimson velvet was adorned with gold galloon trim. But in this instance, the appliqué embroidery was exceptionally lavish. In some areas, it entailed three layers and was so elaborate, it gave both bed and canopy a stately air. The textiles on the bed and the borders on the walls displayed identical patterns. This pattern was also repeated on the large armchairs that stood by the walls in 1719, but had disappeared by the end of the 18th century.
Of the magnificent ornamental brocade on the wall coverings and curtains in the State Bedroom in 1719, only a few original fragments remain. For one thing, the headboard, is evidently an original with its visible signs of age. Then again, one of the vase-shaped finials has survived – they stood on top of the tester and were decorated with plumes of feathers. This finial may perhaps seem unremarkable now, but it was literally worth its weight in gold for the reconstruction. The scraps of fabric sewn to it contained all the information required to reconstruct the textile furnishings of the State Bedroom, right down to the yarn and thread count.
The procedure proved extremely elaborate. Modern machine looms turned out to be unsuitable. The only way the weavers could painstakingly insert the valuable precious metal threads into the weave was by using a manual loom. The result was a work of art – which includes the tiny irregularities so characteristic of hand-weaving. By going down this route, it actually proved possible to recreate the gold brocade from 1719 in all its richness and splendour – in a quality comparable to the baroque masterpieces of the textile arts.
