Prince William and Kate Middleton's Wedding: A Little Furniture History
Photo: AP
As most people have heard, the British Royal Family (and many people across the globe) are preparing for a happy celebration in honor of Prince William and Kate Middleton's marriage ceremony on April 29. Of course, the newlyweds will no doubt receive a number of lovely and interesting gifts—but we would also wager that at least one or two pieces of fine furniture will be among them.
Why? Simple. Furniture and weddings have a long and colorful history together. Going back many centuries, it has been an English tradition (especially among the affluent) to offer specially commissioned furniture as wedding gifts. Usually these pieces feature some type of engraving or plaque featuring a pair of initials or names, or even a dedicatory poem. The styles and means of dedications vary quite widely; sometimes, the plaque simply says (for example), "For the marriage of John and Martha Smith." Other times, the piece contains carved motifs that suggest a marriage dedication without exactly making it explicit—thus illustrating the poetic side of traditional English furniture.
For example, we once found a Victorian oak sideboard that contained, among other things, a pair of images, one of a man and one of a woman:
We can't be certain, but each figure is holding a small cylindrical object to its chest, suggesting that they may be holding scrolls of paper. Perhaps they are wedding vows? We can be certain, however, that the two figures are shown in traditional, ceremonial poses.
We sometimes find carvings that are more explicit, such as this carved panel from another Victorian sideboard, which appears to depict a man proposing to a woman (note the small object that he is proffering to her):
On a different note entirely, we recently came across a Samuel Wright grandfather clock engraved with a poem entitled "The Happy Marriage," by Sir Edward Moore. Ironically, the speaker of the poem describes his habit of extramarital entanglements and his wife's benign reaction to them as a component of their (un)happy marriage. So it isn't certain whether the clock was originally commissioned as a wedding piece, but it's certainly interesting to think about! Here's the clock in question:
We can also verify that giving furniture as a wedding gift is still a common practice: we've had a few commissions made ourselves! Whether William and Kate will have a piece commissioned, however, is another story entirely. In any case, we suspect that they already possess the finest furniture in England. After all, the world still refers to period furniture by the names of English monarchs (Georgian, Queen Anne, Victorian, etc.). Perhaps William and Kate will be the new William and Mary? Time will tell.
