Bed form and placement in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1683-1751
Date
1987
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Abstract
This study uses the approximately 1600 probate inventorties extant from the period 1683-1751 to study (1) the kinds, colors, and approximate value of materials used in Chester County beds at the times the inventories were taken and (2) the placement of the beds in the houses of Chester County. Alternative patterns in the form and placement of the bed in the house were symptomatic of alternative ways of thinking; expressions of variations in the logic people used to decide which of the bed forms available to them they would choose and how they would order the spaces they designated for sleeping. The evidence of the beds themselves as material artifacts and the patterns of their disposition throughout the house were used as a means for determining what nonmaterial social values influenced individual choice. ☐ The study resulted in two key observations. First, that two men with estates of the same value would not always spend equal amounts of money on their beds. This suggested that factors other than the amount of a man's disposable wealth influenced his choice of goods. Second, that alternative patterns coexisted in the disposition of beds, mainly the principal bed, throughout the house. This suggested the concurrent presence of differing attitudes toward privacy and the appropriate degree of specialization of space within the houses of Chester County, Pennsylvania. (Abstract from ProQuest citation page.)