Finally got round to seeing the Great Bed of Ware at the V&A.
Things I love about this big silly bed:
It was made c. 1590 - 1600.
Can reputedly accommodate at least four couples.
Mentioned in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
Guests carved their initials into the wood or applied red wax seals to mark their night in the bed that are still visible on the bedposts and headboard today.
The human figures carved onto the headboard and the underside of the wooden canopy show traces of paint, which indicate that the bed would have originally been brightly coloured.
In 1931 it was the most expensive single piece of furniture ever bought for the museum at £4,000.