AMERICAN LATE FEDERAL CARVED MAHOGANY FOUR-POSTER BED WITH MONTICELLO PROVENANCE.Late 18th-early 19th century. Shaped and paneled scrolling broken-arch headboard; reeded columnar posts with turned urn form finials, leaf carving, and reeded baluster bases, above square tapering legs ending in spade feet raised on castors. - 68 in. x 83 1/2 in. x 57 in. Estimate $8,000-12,000
Illustrated in Marion Elizabeth Carter, Skyward or E Pluribus Unum, Pentland Press, Inc., p. 101, with caption, "Bed from Monticello, crated for shipment by W. B. Moses, Co. Rinaldo Cox sent it to 402 U Street, Washington, DC, as a wedding gift to his niece, Marion Jackson Carter.
PROVENANCE: Estate of Marion Elizabeth Carter (1915-2008), LeDroit Park, Washington, DC. Marion Elizabeth Carter, Ph.D., professor of foreign languages and linguistics, received degrees from Wellesley College, Catholic University, and Georgetown University. The acquisition of her degrees proved to be of historic significance for both of the latter two institutions.
This bedstead descended in the Jefferson and Hemmings families of Virginia, and was most likely fabricated by the Mulberry Row joinery at Monticello. The history of ownership, augmented by documentation of similar furniture produced at Mulberry Row, supports the conclusion that the bedstead was crafted by John Hemmings, brother of Sally Hemmings. John Hemmings, a skilled carpenter and woodworker who constructed numerous pieces of furniture presently on display in the main house at Monticello, historically has been listed as a maker of bedsteads, writing desks and dressing tables.
The history of the bedstead is as follows: Descended to Marion Elizabeth Carter from her mother, Marie Louise Jackson Carter; from her uncle, Rinaldo Cox; from his mother, Elizabeth Scott Cox; from her mother and father, Nancy Redcross and Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Thomas Jefferson Randolph was the eldest son of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph, and the grandson of Thomas Jefferson. (Nancy Redcross, whose husband was Robert Scott, was the daughter of a Cherokee Indian woman and Burwell Colbert. Burwell Colbert, the son of Betty Hemmings Wayles and nephew of Sally Hemmings, served as President Jefferson's valet and keeper of the keys to the nailery and other parts of the Monticello estate. Colbert was manumitted by the last will and testament of President Jefferson and was bequeathed funds to further his career).
Posts cut down; Headboard repaired; Rails replaced; Posts made up from old parts; Normal wear to surface; Poor condition
