Posted 9 years ago
LeeFifield
(1 item)
The back story of this bed is, that the man who sold me the bed's, uncle, was in the Army and went to Hawaii in the 1940's for the war. He was quite the collector and bought this bed, in fact the whole bedroom set, but this bed only remains, as upon his death others in the family took the other parts of the bedroom set which included a clothes cupboard . He had the bed shipped back here from Hawaii to San Antonio and it remained in his house as a guest room bed, rarely used as it is in pristine condition, I find no scratches or damage. I believe this man did purchase it in Hawaii as I found his obituary and it states he served in Hawaii in WWII, "taught at the Infantry school between WWII and Korea with later assignments in Hawaii with the 25th Inf Div" so the information I was given by the nephew who is 78 years old seems correct. I am trying to figure out this bed, it seems to be Eastlake with a Hawaii twist as there is the nuts or fruit design carved in, yet some air of Asian influence from the design too, and Hawaii is in the pacific rim area. What kind of wood this bed is made of... seems like it should be Walnut and Walnut burl, but coming from Hawaii the wood of choice back then would have been Koa and curly Koa panels, although looking at it, it could be either. The bed is 59" wide and the head board is 7 feet tall. It is very heavy and even has the slats. There is no makers mark but on one of the original slats is 5 numbers hand written in what appears to be black crayon. The side boards are beveled and 2 different sizes, I imagine the larger end goes into the front...there are the metal hooks to attach the sides to the head and foot boards, it has little, black, metal, cross pattern wheel type (but not wheels) things on the bottom feet. It has metal hooks to attach the sideboards to the head and footboard. The head board is 7 feet tall and 59 inches wide.
Looks like a Victorian Eastlake bed. Wood appears to be walnut for the most part.
I don't see anything that jumps out as Hawaii related.
scott
ok, but what are the fruit or nut carving? what are they? And I am with you on what you said, so it begs the question, how did this bed get to Hawaii? must have cost a lot to ship it to Hawaii, and then when this man's cousin bought it, course he was in the military so probably came back for free courtesy Uncle Sam.
Sounds like the owner was a career Army soldier. Most likely the bed went with him when he was assigned to Hawaii. The Army ships household goods for folks when they/ their family is reassigned.
scott
Right I am with you Scott, I think, the original owner, or the one who had it shipped to Hawaii was a Army soldier and in Hawaii, the uncle of the guy I bought it from, bought it from him in Hawaii and then Uncle Sam paid to have it shipped back. This makes perfect sense. Now the only questions that remain is what is the carved nuts or fruit on it? anyone got a guess? I looked at Kola nuts, they are large but the serrated edges have me stumped....
Welcome to CW:)
Thanks!
This post is so old but I just saw it.
You questioned the “nut” carvings; did you ever get a definite answer?
They could be kukui nuts also known as candle nuts. They grow in Hawaii and have many different uses there. Or they could be macadamia nuts...also grown in Hawaii.
If you are still questioning the provenance of the bed, I suggest you send pictures and an inquiry to the Bishop Museum and to Iolani Palace, both in Honolulu.
The Hawaiian royalty furnished the palace and homes with fine furniture from the US and Europe.
After the take-over of the kingdom but the US, the palace was emptied of it’s finery and turned into offices. Contents of the palace had been sold/removed/lost/stolen/just plain missing by the time the palace was finally rescued and restored to its original condition.
There are many photographs from the time the palace was built which clearly document the furnishings.
Since the restoration, there has been an ongoing effort to get back items that originally were in the palace. Periodically, some item turns up in some far away location and the gets returned to the palace. Several years ago I read an article about a patterned carpet found on the US mainland that had gotten identified and returned.
With the history you have been told and the style of furniture that this is, it could be of great historical and sentimental value in Hawaii.
So, I hope you still have this bed, I hope you will contact Iolani Palace/send pictures, and I really hope it turns out to be something very special!