Red and Yellow Velvet Tester Bed - The 'Darnley' Bed
Tester bed hung with red and yellow velvet hangings and festoons of silk fringe surmounted by velvet covered earthenware vases and ostrich feathers
From the Duke of Hamilton's Apartments, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh
Since the mid 19th Century until the 1970s this exceptional and magnificent state bed was referred to as 'Lord Darnley's' bed by generations of Holyroodhouse Palace guides. It was referred to by this name as it was situated in Lord Darnley's bedroom in the Historic Apartments at Holyroodhouse. On stylistic grounds it is, however, unlikely that this bed dates from the 16th Century. This type of half tester bed, with no supporting posts at the foot for the canopy, was only popular from the late 17th century. The flamboyant corner decorations on the cornice consists of ceramic vases covered with velvet and white ostrich feathers . The canopy is decorated with crimson velvet on a gold yellow ground with silk covered wired flowers set in baskets and hanging silk festoons fringing the edges. The elaborate cornice and hangings reflect contemporary designs for state beds by the designer and architect David Marot who was working at Hampton Court Palace London for William and Mary at the end of the 17th Century.
It was James, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606-1649), who was first appointed Hereditary Keeper of Holyrood by Charles 1 acquiring spacious grace-and-favour apartments next to and including parts of the building now known as the Historical Apartments. The Hamilton Archive tells of the history of the furniture at the Palace of Holyroodhouse and confirms the date of the acquisition of this bed by the 1st Duke of Hamilton. 'A crimson and gould velvet bett loyned with satin' was bought from John Ridges for 209.10.0d in 1683. The discharge and receipt of money paid by Mr William Hamilton suggests that the white feathers were an optional extra at 8pounds. The inventories of 1707 show that, after the death of her husband, Duchess Anne kept the bed in her bedchamber for her own use. In the 1722 Holyrood inventory the bed is identified as 'a Persian toure Di Leet' and was used by the 5th Duke of Hamilton's wife. A 'Persian toure di Leet' such as this was a bed with a canopy suspended by chains from the ceiling and consequently no supporting posts at the foot.
The bed was still used by the 9th Duke in 1761 but with foot posts a temporary addition. In the mid 19th Century the age and provenance of the bed was altered. Guides to the apartments from the Board of Works would refer to the bed as one used by Charles 1, in effect adding forty years to its age. However, by the beginning of the 20th Century because the bed had been moved from Mary Queen of Scots outer chamber and placed in Lord Darnley's apartment in the 1860s, it was confidently and assertively referred to as Lord Darnley's bed thereby suggesting erroneously it was at least a hundred and twenty years older. This was clearly an impossibility given its style and the inventories and documents from the Hamilton Archive that trace its commission, purchase and use.
