Cradle

Date

• 1846-1855

Summary

• Child's cradle, Blue Mounds or Black Earth, Dane County, 1846 or 1855. Child's rocking cradle with shaped headboard, footboard and sides; turned finials and legs. Cracks in legs at head end are reinforced with large braces (photo evidence shows these repairs were made prior to 1920). Baseboard and mattress are modern replacements for original rope bottom. Dark brown finish with traces of earlier gray-green paint.
• The year 1846 is roughly incised in the headboard
• The Mount Horeb Area Historical Society's records state that the cradle was found on the Glen Thompson farm, Blue Mounds, Dane County, Wisconsin, and was used by Ed and Ole Bjelde. A photograph in the Society's collection, which shows a group of people posing with this cradle ca. 1920, features a handwritten note that reads "This cradle was made in the year 1855 by uncle Sever Syverson at Black Earth Wisconsin."