A Touch of Brass

The first brass bed washed up on England’s shores about 200 years ago. People were amazed. Is this what the French are sleeping on! Seriously! What the hell! Lords and ladies raced to their boats, invaded France, and soon golden beds were gleaming from every aristocrat’s bedchamber.

The middle-classes were damned if they were going to miss out. An unquenchable Victorian lust for anything ostentatious and shiny meant that brass beds were soon being mass produced. With their crest rails, polished finials, decorative castings and elegant tubing, the brass bed became a massively popular piece of bling furniture for the Victorian family home.

So when it came to choosing a new bed frame for our Victorian house, what better than to celebrate the bicentenary of this interiors trend and invest in a bit of brass? Here is our shortlist:

1. The Serene Solomon 

The Serene Solomon is a beautiful design inspired by the Victorian era. High head and foot ends and finished in brass with ‘hand-poured’ castings – because that matters so much.

2. The Alana 

The Alana from made.com puts a modern twist on the brass bed frame. Probably not flamboyant enough for the Victorian purist, but very popular and very cool. You have a choice of this brushed brass finish or copper.

3. Martino Copper and Brass Dormitory Style 

If you spent all of last year jumping on the copper bandwagon and aren’t quite ready to move on to brass, don’t worry, you can have both! This Martino Copper and Brass bed offers a classic French dormitory design that is brought up to date for a strong contemporary look.

4. The Starke 

A second contender from made.com. Edging towards the more antique look, the Starke takes inspiration from Victorian handmade beds. On trend and versatile.

5. The Aurelie 

Ok so The Aurelie is rose-gold rather than brass, but it’s a beauty none-the-less. Gentle curves, simple styling. Looks pretty good. And it’s only from bloody Argos!

6. The Serene Benjamin 

A classic Georgian-style bed frame and a faithful reincarnation of the genuine article. The Serene Benjamin has decorative feet, knees, husks and the obligatory polished brass finials! I came across a near identical antique version of this bed made in 1900 and going for £2750!

7. The Versailles 

Well we can dream, and if my bedroom had 20ft high ceilings supported by Greek Doric columns then The Versailles is the bed I would put between them. Maybe in the January sales.