CIRCA 1820

The present headboard relates to a bed delivered to George IV at Windsor Castle by Morel & Seddon in July 1828 and preserved in the Royal Collection (currently at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton RCIN 20802). Both beds are richly carved to the cresting with foliate motifs and share the same berried laurel motif centered by a rosette across their width. The design of George IV’s state bed in the Royal Collection is inspired by French fashions of the early nineteenth century, including designs published by Charles Percier & Fontaine. It recalls furnishings supplied for Empress Josephine's Salon at the Chateau de Fontainebleau, by Jacob-Desmalter, who also worked for Morel and Seddon on the furnishing of Windsor Castle. Similarly, the present headboard strongly recalls French design, which was so popular with George IV and his Francophile circle. The design of the palm-wrapped posts of the present headboard, seem to recall an exoticism not seen in George IV’s state bed but perhaps closer in spirit to the earlier work executed by Morel and Seddon at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton.