Bed steps
Name/Title
Bed stepsEntry/Object ID
F 76.39Description
The three steps stand on turned feet ending in brass ferrule feet. The uppermost step is hinged and opens to a storage compartment. The middle step slides out, supported on the bottom step. The middle step tread is also hinged and opens to a contoured seat with a round hole from which a chamber pot was suspended. Each step has 19th-century Brussels carpeting. See Montgomery, Federal Furniture, no. 446, for similar set. Described in the 1810 New York price book as "two feet three inches wide, two feet high, three steps, solid ends, back and front rail framed into four plain legs, . . . Lipped and lined with carpet, fronts of ditto veneered." Options include "hinging the middle step, and a night stool to draw out" and "preparing and hinging the top for a pot cupboard." [listed in 1834 price book]Category
Furniture