Transformation of heraldic decoration: the ‘Radcliffe Bed’

Lindfield, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8393-9344 (2022) Transformation of heraldic decoration: the ‘Radcliffe Bed’. The Coat of Arms, 5 (239). pp. 108-119. ISSN 0010-003X

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Abstract

The 'Radcliffe bed 'was largely manufactured in the mid-nineteenth century from historic woodwork supplemented by new carved elements awash with heraldic decoration. Produced by an antiquary, architect, designer, and faker of historical farniture, this bed appears to have been designed for personal consumption and display by George Shaw, the antiquary, in his own house to vaunt his connection to the Radcliffes of Ordsall Hall in Manchester. This essay explores the bed's design and the ways in which Shaw used heraldry to fabricate the bed's historical links to the Radcliffes.