"Trunk-hasped, cart-heavy, painted an ignorant brown"
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Where: Unknown
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When: 01 January 1900
Try to find the date or year when this image was made.
That's how poet Seamus Heaney described a settle bed, though this very ornate one was far from "ignorant brown" by the look of things. Any ideas about where this settle bed lived? And why the Celticised design?
Collection: Mason Photographic Collection
Date: 1890 - 1910?
NLI Ref: M2/28
You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie
Source: Flickr Commons
Views: 11309
Collection: Mason Photographic Collection
Date: 1890 - 1910?
NLI Ref: M2/28
You can also view this image, and many thousands of others, on the NLI’s catalogue at catalogue.nli.ie
Info:
Owner: National Library of Ireland on The CommonsSource: Flickr Commons
Views: 11309
thomasholmesmason
thomasmayne
thomashmasonsonslimited
lanternslides
nationallibraryofireland
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derangedlemur
The centre panel is pretty famous, but I couldn't tell you what it is.
derangedlemur
I'm guessing from the adjacent pics that it's in Garfield Chambers in Belfast. archiseek182.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=13112842&ite...
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
The story behind the poem - www.rlf.org.uk/showcase/the-settle-bed/
Foxglove
is the text "under the fairies" ??
Foxglove
no,.... sleep of the fairies ??
sharon.corbet
At the top it says "Tosach Sláinte something". "Tosach sláinte codladh" is the beginning of a seanfhocail meaning that sleep is the beginning of health, but the last word doesn't look like codladh to me?
derangedlemur
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet Looks like "sgia". I don't know what that would be.
derangedlemur
Anyway, with the sleep of fairies stuff, that's presumably Oisin rather than Corann in the picture.
derangedlemur
Mind you, there's no shortage of options: www.terriwindling.com/blog/2015/07/into-the-woods-series-...
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet "sgit" , skate, still makes no sense
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
How do settle beds work? Does the seat lift up and the front fold down and out, or do you lie inside like a coffin? Puzzled ...
sharon.corbet
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]] [https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]] I think it might be sgít[h] - which apparently means rest in Early Modern Irish. (A séimhiú was originally shown as a dot over the letter rather than a h after it like in modern Irish, so that’s why it looks like "sgit".) Then it’s more or less the same thing as the seanfhocail - "A rest is the beginning of health."
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
Thinking it would have been easier to tip the entire thing over and sleep on the back! This explanation is helpful; evidently there was a "Timber Famine" in Ireland after 1600 for various fascinating reasons. And the very high back was to keep you away from damp cottage walls ... drmarionmcgarry.weebly.com/irish-heritage-and-identity-bl...
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet Which google translates as "sleep in tiredness"
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia Also puzzled about how it works, perhaps the bottom panel hinged upwards?
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet Or "suan na sid(h)e" , "sleep in the morning" ? Should have paid more attention in school.
suckindeesel
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/beachcomberaustralia] Here's one opened up for use. Looks pretty uncomfortable. www.adverts.ie/other-furniture/antique-irish-settle-bed-c...
sharon.corbet
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] It says "Tosach Sláinte Sgíth" at the top (A rest is the beginning of health). At the bottom is "Suan na Sídhe", which as https://www.flickr.com/photos/foxglove mentioned is "sleep of the Sidhe/fairies".
suckindeesel
I wonder if that settle has even survived, as can't get any lead on it.
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet Yes, that makes more sense, so much for google translate's effort at translation.
Foxglove
hi Sharon, good on sgit'(h) / rest I used to hate reading text in " the old alphabet" in primary school... it always looked prettier but..
Foxglove
ok .. still .. it's a horrific piece of furniture!!! I'd never sleep easy I this
derangedlemur
It'd be grand once it had a mattress in it. It's basically just a folding wall bed.
derangedlemur
The youth is very much in the style of Robinson, Rackham or Beardsley, and I'm sure I've see one like it before, but I can't find it online.
suckindeesel
I wonder who lived at 15 Garfield Chambers, which seems it's likely location. That might provide a lead. This Probably not Beardsley, too tame
sharon.corbet
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]] Lennon Wylie have put a number of Belfast Street Directories online, but nothing jumped out at me as likely at 15 Garfield Chambers. (It's sometimes under R for Royal Avenue.) I would also note that the dates for Mason photos are not always that accurate - one turned out to be from the 1930s if I remember correctly.
derangedlemur
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet In terms of style, this one looks like '20s. It's quite similar to Rackham's Irish Fairy Tales illustrations.
domenico milella
Beautiful.
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet Thanks for the link. Like you, nothing jumped out. However, I did notice that the 1901 gives two addresses for Garfield Chambers: 44 Royal Avenue and 15 Garfield Street. It's on a corner. So, the "15 Garfield Chambers" location may actually be the building's street address, rather than apartment number 15 as I thought.
uncovered trains
The proverb in full is "Tosach sláinte scíth, deireadh sláinte osna". A sigh was seemingly a sign of nearing the end. When the written standard was introduced midway in the last century the letter 'c' replaced many of the 'g's like 'sgoil'. It became 'scoil' and 'sgíth' became 'scíth'.
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet seems to be a settle by artist Mina Robinson, "Apartment 26. Garfield Chambers, Robinson, M., Irish decorative art society" Look into it further later
suckindeesel
This is an example of the Celtic Revival arts and crafts movement in Ireland, which flourished between 1880 and 1920. The decorations on the settle are called poker-work en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrography and were by Margaret Houston of the Irish Decorative Art Association., see The Arts and Craft Movement in Ireland, Paul Larmour, which includes a photo of the "Oisin" panel, pg 138. This group was cofounded by Mina Robinson www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/indeThis x.php/home/viewPerson/1472 and was based in Robinson's Garfield Chambers apartment, 15 Garfield Street up to 1909. This tallys with Mason's "Garfield" description for the other photo in the series. From 1902 the group also began decorating Irish harps archive.org/details/artscraftsmoveme00krei/page/n64 as shown in catalogue.nli.ie/Search/Results?lookfor=Mason+collection+... The group group moved to new premises in 1910. See Dictionary of Irish Biography, vol 8. Likely date range 1902-1909.
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
"Settle, Down" ; )
pjmhawe
The fine craft work of Margaret E. G.. Houston, died c1923
Dr. Ilia
Wonderful Shot!
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] Can't get any hits on Margaret Houston, any bio links?
sharon.corbet
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]] There's a picture of a different settle by Margaret Houston.
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet Thanks for that link, I couldn't get any hits on her. She also belonged to Mina Robinson's group. I'd love to know where our settle ended up, as can't find it in the Folk Museum. Some of Robinson's work was purchased by Lady Londonderry, her sponsor, for her own private art collection.
suckindeesel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected] https://www.flickr.com/photos/scorbet You were correct, it's the work of Margaret Houston. Not in an Ulster museum, probably in a private collection. However, Robinson's 1895 settle is in the Folk Museum.
suckindeesel
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland] Work of Margaret Houston according to,book The Arts and Craft Movement in Ireland by Paul Larmour. Hope it's OK re copyright, I will delete if necessary www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/50097314043/in/datepo...
ɹǝqɯoɔɥɔɐǝq
"poker-work" ... I just had to google it - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrography