The Great Bed of Ware antique print, c1836.

by Shaw, Henry

Great Bed of Ware in room, antique print c1836. The grand Bed of Ware, from the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was 7 feet 6 1/2 inches high, 10 feet 9 inches in length, 10 feet 9 iinches wide.

Below the engraving is an extract from Shakespeare, "Sir Toby Belch. Go write it in a martial hand; be curst and brief; it is no matter how witty, so it be eloquent, and full of invention; taunt him with the licence of ink; if thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss, and as many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, altho' the sheet were big enough for the Bed of Ware in England, set 'em down, go, about it.

Original colour-printed steel engraving after the drawing of 1832, by Henry Shaw, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, (1800-1873), for Specimens of Ancient Furniture drawn from Existing Authorities, and published in London c.1836 by William Pickering. Later soft colour added in complimentary style.

Page size is 28 x 20cm (11 x 8 inches).