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Post by august on Sept 23, 2011 11:03:21 GMT -5
Cécile can sleep peacefully all night long in this grand bed set: A wooden bed inspired by authentic furniture from the 1850s, featuring floral artwork and contoured side rails. Gauzy mosquito netting that hangs from the half-canopy. A satin bedspread with a dainty doily print. A plump pillow with a pink cotton cover. A soft mattress for sweet dreams.I cannot say enough good things about this bed. It was very easy to put together and once constructed, it is very sturdy. The wood is heavy and the carving is very nicely done. The bed is all wood and the honey colored wood is simply elegant. My only complaint is the linens. They are very pretty but the coverlet is somewhat thin and I wish the mattress had been a little more plush but the beautiful wood bed more than makes up for it! I think this is one of the best pieces of furniture AG has ever made. I give it an A+. MATTRESS-it is not as plush as other AG mattresses. I guess this has to due with the design of the bed. COVERLET - one side is satiny pink with a white spinning wheel design. The other side is pink cotton. PILLOW is made of the same pink cotton material found on the coverlet. I much admire E of A's reviews because she includes tidbits of history with her reviews which are immensely interesting and often times downright fascinating. My DD has become very interested in Cécile's time period, so she and I have been perusing the internet for more information and came across a few similar examples of Cécile's bed. So, I thought I would include what DD and I found. This is a picture of an 1850's cradle from the DAR house located in Mobile, Alabama. The cradle was made by cabinetmaker, Prudent Mallard. Prudent Mallard began his work in New York in 1829 but in 1832 moved to Louisiana. His store was located on Royal street until 1874. He was known for his beautiful and intricately carved furniture pieces in rosewood (call rosewood because when cut it smelled like roses). He made everything from settees to dressers to beds. Another example of Prudent Mallard's work is a half-tester bed (like Cécile's) located in the historic home of Dick and Joanne Leike called White Arches located in Columbus, Mississippi: Here is a link to their website www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/30/meant-to-be/ Here is a picture from a child's bedroom in the 1850 House located in New Orleans' French Quarter. Check out the doll-sized bed and dresser. So cute! The style looks like that of Prudent Mallard but I am not sure. You can learn more about the 1850 House at www.crt.state.la.us/museum/properties/1850house.aspx*mod edit to remove dead-linked images*
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Post by rubytues97 on Jun 9, 2012 8:38:00 GMT -5
My DD8 loves Cécile's bed. She saved up her money from bdays and other chores, etc. to buy it. She only has historical dolls and loves historical fiction, etc. So, although she is he target age, she might not be the average AG customer. I think it is very good quality. Definitely more impressive in person than in the catalogs. It is used daily in this house, FWIW. I hope AG doesn't shift away from the historicals. DD has learned so much from these characters!
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Post by 123hollyhock on Jun 9, 2012 10:13:57 GMT -5
This is one of my favorite beds, the other two being Addy's and Elizabeth's. I love the fairy tale look of it and I think the quality is great. This bed looks better in person than online. If they discount the price more I would probably get another one. Wish I lived by the outlet store!
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Post by booklover103 on Jun 9, 2012 13:28:07 GMT -5
I'm actually obsessed with it. It's historically accurate (French things were all the rage with the wealthy in all the US, and of course in New Orleans, which basically was French.) The carvings are really pretty. Personally, I love the sort of antique robin's egg blue and the little flower detailing. The low isn't always super-practical, but its accurate. I agree that the blanket could be a little thicker and bigger, but its pretty. It may not show up on pictures, but the blue paint isn't matte, it has this antique finish where you can kinda see the different wood grains beneath it, which is really, really pretty. I love the mosquito net detail. I may just do that mattress trick. I look at it and it just makes me happy.
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Laura Rose
Our New Baby
Sales dispute; do not transact.
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Post by Laura Rose on Jun 9, 2012 19:21:16 GMT -5
I must admit that I really do not like the bed because of the colors ..it's very hard to match unless you want blue and pink which seem out of place when I think of furniture from that period (though I know the piece is supposed to be accurate ) I only bought it to complete Cécile's and Marie Grace's collection but I have since sold it and am using Felicity's four poster bed with my own version of linens from that period. I also agree that it is too low to the floor and reminds me of a toddler bed. However, I did love the wooden canopy but I just never could get it to grow on me.
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Post by Thimbleberry on Jun 11, 2012 11:06:54 GMT -5
I have Cécile's bed (as well as Addy's, Kit's, Julie's, & Josefina's) & I do like it. In person it is not at all cheap looking or like something from "Target" as some have said. It is wooden & very well made. It is a bit odd looking & different from the other beds we're used to seeing because it's so low to the floor & has only a partial canopy. However, both of these features are accurate to the place & time & that's my main interest in historical items. The paint does seem bright but it probably was when the antique furniture that we look at now was new. I'm sure they have faded over the last 160 years or so to what we see now.
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Post by EofA on Jun 11, 2012 12:40:00 GMT -5
Although I have not purchased this item, I have inspected it multiple times in the stores and feel qualified to make a fair review. DESIGN INSPIRATION: It took me a while to track this down, but I can say with certainty that it appears to have been inspired by the girl's period bed in the Gallier House, a furnished antebellum home in New Orleans which has provided many other inspirations for this particular collection: PROS and CONS: I like the concept of the bed. The bed is well-made and historically accurate on many levels. I like that it is sturdy and made of wood. I like that it was based on a young girl's bed from roughly the same time period. I like that it is an accurate representation of a half-tester bed (AG changed its descriptor in June 2012 from "Bed and Bedding " to "Half Canopy Bed"), a type that IS lower to the ground than we are used to today. The mattress for this bed is purposely not meant to be as plush as other AG mattresses, which is place-specific since most mattresses of the period in Louisiana were stuffed with Spanish moss which would have given a flatter look. However AG has not made any of this clear in its descriptions of the bed and bedding, and I think that is unfortunate Marketing Fail. Without such information, collectors and parents of target market children are judging (and often dismissing) the bed from the standpoint of modern sensibilities, expecting a big fluffy overdone bed that is simply NOT historically accurate. I think AG also erred in making the paint more vivid than the softer colors of the original bed pictured above, likely in an effort to provide that 'girl-friendly' shelf appeal it considers to be so important. I also find the bedding choice of a skimpy satin coverlet and pink linens regrettable, and think this item would have been better served with simple white bedding and more generous mosquito netting. GRADES: While the height of the bed and mattress may look odd to our modern eyes, there's nothing glaringly inaccurate about that and I give the bed a B+ in terms of historically accurate design. The paint choices lower the grade from the A that it could have had. The bedding merits a D grade. And the marketing of this item, minus important information on historical context, deserves an F. APPEAL: Have I purchased this item? No. That is partly due to space considerations and partly because I believe that for the price asked by AG and the modifications needed to satisfy me as an adult collector, I'd rather invest in an antique doll bed. Like, say, something like this smaller doll bed from the mid 1800s that I found online: (I decided to add the above photo to illustrate again that these kinds of beds really did exist. While the bed in this AG collection is tarted up, the design IS historically accurate). I think this bed is competitively priced compared to the other beds in the Historical collection, both past and present, and is even of better quality than some (namely Kirsten's, Molly's, and Rebecca's). And I think this bed would have made me swoon if I was in the target age range. It's got a lot of visual and play appeal for the kids, so kudos to AG for that. Finally, an apology: my personal photos were all taken in stores and I can't get rid of the display lighting glare, so I won't post any of those until I can obtain better ones.
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Post by ladoyle on Jun 12, 2012 3:33:04 GMT -5
I did think at first, when seeing it in the catalog and online, that it was a bit on the garish side (the blue), but after seeing it in person, I do think a little girl would love it, since it looks so "princessy". Yes, it is a bit low, but a lot of the other beds are too. After all, it is geared to children! If you want something more realistic, you can always get an antique doll bed.
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Post by windsongfarmgirl on Jun 14, 2012 13:57:42 GMT -5
I like it and I have it! It is a very cute bed! I have all of the NOLA girls collection and I just love it!!!
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Britta
Historical Dreamer
Posts: 2,223
Feedback: Link
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Post by Britta on Dec 19, 2012 5:39:59 GMT -5
I got this bed during the amazing sale and have not set it up yet for a number of reasons, but I did take it out of the box and inspect each piece. It is absolutely beautiful! Very detailed and very well made, seems really sturdy. I love it. The only things I would change would be to make it a little bit higher (the actual bed part, not the canopy thing) and make the blanket a bit more substantial. I get that New Orleans is hot, but the blanket could at least be longer and wider. Minor complaints though, I'm really happy about having received this bed and can't wait to get it set up! It is certainly unique among doll beds and I absolutely feel it is worth the original price. My grade: A.
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Post by dollydeadest on Jun 17, 2014 13:22:38 GMT -5
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Post by keeperofthepast on Jun 8, 2023 16:23:35 GMT -5
I think the concept behind this bed was wonderful. I want to find one like it, but just in sold dark wood..
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