One of the earliest examples of oak furniture; the oak bed
In Britain at least, oak is surely the timber that has been used throughout the greatest part of our history for making furniture. It is entirely likely that basic furniture made of oak has been used since the time of the Roman occupation and it has certainly been well established since the Middle Ages. The earliest pieces of oak furniture are likely to have been the oak table and the oak bed.
An oak bed, or any kind of wooden bed, would have been possessed by only the very wealthy in society. Most people would have slept on a bed of straw, heather, bracken or some other material that provided a degree of comfort and some insulation from the cold ground. Packing such material into a bag or palliase helped keep it together and made it easier to move.
Sleep tight
The wooden or oak bed of the nobility was originally a frame that was strung with wooden, leather or rope straps and the straw-filled mattress placed on top. Achieving a good tension in the leather or rope straps gave a better night’s sleep and led to the expression ‘sleep tight.’ Adding curtains around the bed created the four poster. This kept out cold drafts and, if living in a house surrounded by servants, provided some privacy.
For a long time it was the custom for nobility to have their bed dismantled and sent on ahead if they were embarking on a long journey. This not only ensured they would have a comfortable place to sleep, but was also a display of their wealth and prestige.
The Great Bed of Ware
One of the most famous oak beds in history is the Great Bed of Ware, a truly substantial four poster bed that was built by one Jonas Fosbrooke in approximately 1590 and, before ending up in the Victoria & Albert Museum, was housed in various inns in the town of Ware, Hertfordshire. Measuring 10ft by 11ft, the bed can accommodate up to 15 people at the same time. Such was its fame that it has been mentioned in several great works of literature including Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Byron’s Don Juan.
The next big step in bed technology was the invention in 1828 by camping equipment supplier Samuel Pratt of the first coiled bedspring. Mass production of Pratt’s invention revolutionised mattress making and rendered the age-old practice of stuffing mattresses with soft fillings obsolete.
Dark days for oak furniture
Oak furniture, especially in darker finishes, remained popular right up to the two World Wars of the 20th Century. By their end, native supplies of oak had been severely depleted in order to fulfil the demands of both conflicts. Added to this, there was a general move away from the heavy, dark styles of furniture with which oak had been associated since Victorian times towards light, bright colours and Scandinavian pine furniture.
Gradually however, as overall national prosperity improved, new supplies of oak were sourced from North America, Asia and the Far East and people once again began buying oak furniture – but this time in the lighter, more natural oak colours. That long term stalwart of furniture history, the oak bed, was back in fashion.