The record-union., 1894-02-17
AN ANCIENT BED.
Quaint and Delicate Carvings of
Rare Beauty.
Superb1y Inlaid with Ivory-A Bed In
Which Royalty Has Slept and
Which it Took Fifty Years to Build
Valued at High Figures.

1t would hardly seem that the head that
wears a crown should rest uneasily, espe-
cjally upon bed that is valued at S25,0O0,
and Is gorgeously carved and inlaid with
the most precious woods; but history re-
peats itself and such is said to be the case.
The lover of antique furniture and art
work would go into ecstacies could he see
a bed that is now owned by Mrs. James
Hudson of Washington, which was built
over seven hundred years ago for one OF
the Chinese Emperors of the Sung dy-
nasty, and which for thirty years was the
imperial throne by day and couch by
night.
This piece of antique furniture was to
have been exhibited at the Worlds Fair,
and the fact that it was not on exhibition
then is to be deplored by connoisseurs OF
antiques in art, as it has been pronounced
The finest specimen Of cabinet carved and
inlaid work in existence i'll the world to-
day.
This mammoth piece of furniture,
weighing over ton, and constructed OF
rosewood, ebony, teak, mahogany, box
wood, sandal wood and bamboo. and in
laid with ivory and lockwood figures cut
in cameo, tells the history of the Sung
dynasty from the founder, Tai-tsu, 800
b. G., until the overthrow by the Tartars
and death Of The-Sing i'll 1879. ON the
upper portion of the bed is told the cor
responding NEUROLOGICAL history, and all
is worked out in the most clearly defined
tracings and inlaid carved work.
A BED WITH A HISTORY.
The history of the wanderings of the
bed is not uninteresting, and Is authori-
tative. 1t was constructed Dy Chung \ g.
one of the most profound and learned
historians of the period. who was also an
artist Of the highest order and who gave
the years of his life in the delicate work.
For nearly fifty years after its completion
and the death of the artist it was used by
one OF the Emperors of the Sung dy-
nasty.
When the Tartars and Mongolians
overran the empire and made Pekin the
capital, in 1879 A. d., they sacked the city
and looted the palaces of The-Sing, and
among the valuable treasures hypothe-
Gated was this piece of furniture. The
Emperor, who was the last of the dy-
nasty, escaped capture and drowned HIM
self and family III the river near Canton.
The bed was next heard from in Ming
Pc, at the time of the opium war in 1910,
when the city was taken by the British.
1t fell into the hands of Robert HAYWOOD.
an English naval officer, who shipped 1t
on a sailing vessel that was to make Liver
pool, but which arrived at San Francisco
two years later. At that time there were
only three of the present six Chinese
companies here, yetthey at once appealed
to the United States officials for an order
restraining it's removal from the city,
with the intention of sending it back TO
the Orient, they claiming that it was one
of those valuable works of art that their
laws forbade leaving the Empire.
John Hudson, an uncle of the present
owner, who was then in san Francisco.
obtained possession OF the bed, and after
deal of legal quibbling shipped it to
New York in sailing vessel that made
the journey around the Horn. and in 1884
he presented it to his sister, the mother OF
the present owner, who on her death gave
1t to his wife.
WEIGHS MORE THAN a TON.
The bed is far from being a toy, as it