Field Bedstead
Maker
Alexander Low
Period1780 - 1800
MediumMaple, tulip poplar, and hard pine
Dimensions76.13 × 53.5 × 77.5 in. (193.4 × 135.9 × 196.9 cm)
ClassificationsBeds and Cradles
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Anderene Moreau La Bella, 1974
Object number1991.621
DescriptionA maple frame consists of four posts, as well as squared side, head, and foot rails. The tulip poplar headboard is ornamented with a double bow crest. Posts are turned and tapered above the rails, then squared into Marlborough legs from the rails to the floor. The posts end in stepped block feet. Ring turnings exist on all four posts ten inches below the canopy frame. The rails include a beaded outer edge and an inner lip to support the slats. They are tenoned into the posts and fastened with large iron bolts. The collapsible arched tester, made of hard pine, includes small hinges at the center of each arch section, while four narrow slats fit into half-lap notches cut along the tops of the arch sections. Once assembled, the tester fits onto short iron rods extending from the tops of the posts.Curatorial RemarksAlexander Low's account book, covering the years 1793 to 1821, is also owned by the Association. It documents the wide range of tasks he undertook as a cabinetmaker, undertaker, gunsmith, and all around repair person for anything made of wood. The Association's museum collection contains a large sideboard attributed to Low donated by his descendants (accession number 1995.533), and a flax wheel base stamped with his name (accession number 2003.13).NotesFamily tradition states that the field bedstead was made by Alexander Low (1741 - 1836), a cabinetmaker, undertaker and surveyor from Freehold, Monmouth County. Low was born near Glasgow, Scotland, and landed in New York on 15 December 1774 with a fine set of cabinetmaker's tools in hand. He settled on West Main Street in Freehold, marrying Anne Davis in 1788. She was a great-granddaughter of Robert Rhea (d. 1720), another Scottish carpenter and joiner who came to America in 1685 and settled in Freehold three years later (see accession number 1672). The Rhea / Davis / Low / McClees family formed a five generation dynasty of Monmouth County woodworkers.
Collections
ProvenanceMade by Alexander Low (1741 - 1836); to his daughter Janet Low McClees (1795 - 1877); to her daughter Margaret McClees Moreau (1819 - 1903); to her son Alexander Low Moreau (1859 - 1933); to his son Adrian E. Moreau (1892 - 1942); to his widow Anderene Ward Moreau (1897 - 1980) later Mrs. Joseph LaBella.
