A bed-head or tester filled the space between the head-board of a bed and the roof. This specimen is thought to be the only known example of a complete and unaltered tester for a 16th century bed. It has a pattern in yellow satin, cut to shape and applied to the blue satin ground. The design consists of scaffolding of bandwork forming varied shaped compartments, with grimacing masks and human and half-human figures holding music sheets, musical instruments, leafy branches or baskets, or grappling with strange beasts and birds. The detail is embroidered in silk thread. The workmanship is of the highest professional quality and suggests a princely commission.
This bed-head was originally though to be Italian as the grotesque style started there. The term grotesque related to images found principally in Nero's Golden Palace in Rome when it was 'rediscovered' in the 16th century by Italian artists. 'Grotesque' was an adjective derived from 'grotto' and did not relate to the eerie nature of the images. The style became particularly favoured in France, from a comparatively early date, through the influence of Italian artists working in the French court.
The design of the embroidery seen here is a French variation of the grotesque style, related, for example to the grotesque prints done from 1550 onwards, by Paris engravers Jacques Androuet du Cerceau and Etienne Delaune. Two small fragments of a French embroidered bed valance identical in style to this panel are in the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris and must be part of same bed ensemble.