Piece of red damsk from Lord Byron’s honeymoon bed

In collection

Details
TITLE

Piece of red damsk from Lord Byron’s honeymoon bed

SUMMARY

Halnaby Hall in Yorkshire was the setting for Lord and Lady Byron’s honeymoon, or as Byron afterwards called it, their ‘treaclemoon’. ‘He asked me with an appearance of aversion, if I meant to sleep in the same bed as him,’ Lady Byron recalled later, ‘said that he hated sleeping with any woman, but I might do as I choose.’ They duly retired to the four poster bed and its crimson curtains. During the night Byron woke, saw the firelight shining through the red cloth, looked at his sleeping wife, and thought that he was ‘fairly in hell with Proserpine lying beside him’.

DATE

1815

MEDIUM

realia

MATERIALS

velvet

PERSONAL NAME SUBJECT

Byron, George Gordon Byron Baron, 1788-1824

PROVENANCE

On Loan from Mrs Virginia Valentini.

LOCATION

KSH

REL-018


Creative Commons Licenses