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Cradle

A swing cot cradle with woven cane sides designed to keep an infant safe and secure. Sometimes called a ‘treasure’ cradle.

1750-1800
Mahogany wood, cane, metal

The cradle is an infant’s bed which is suspended from a bar, slung upon pivots, or mounted on rockers. The rocking motion of the cradle is intended to lull the infant to sleep. The wicker sides are designed for ventilation.

This is an ancient type of furniture, and its origins are unknown. Early surviving cradles are made from hollowed-out tree trunks and lidless wood boxes, originally with apparently detachable rockers. Later cradles were paneled and carved, supported on pillars, inlaid, or mounted in gilded bronze. Every period of furniture style has produced a variety of cradle types, from simple boxes to the elaborate draped state cradles of 18th-century France. The wood cradles mounted on rockers were popular from the 15th to the end of the 17th centuries, but were gradually replaced in the 18th and 19th centuries by wicker cradles that were slung between end supports in order to raise them higher from the ground.

On display in the Cradle to Grave Gallery