Her Majesty’s Furniture: The Cradle of Princess Louise

Cradle for Princess Louise
William Gibbs Rogers, 1850
The Royal Collection

In 1848, Queen Victoria commissioned a cradle for the infant Princess Louise. She selected William Gibbs Rogers to create the piece. Rogers carved the cradle from boxwood to Queen Victoria’s specifications, designing the piece in the Italian Renaissance style based on images from paintings.


The craftsmanship of the cradle was so fine and precise that, in fact, it took Rogers two years to complete the project. The Queen was thrilled with the result which Rogers signed on the reverse, “W.G. ROGERS FECIT ANNO 1850.” Queen Victoria praised Rogers’ incorporation of the emblems of The Royal Houses of England and Saxe-Coburg as well as the imagery of flowers and plants which were associated with sleep. She wrote in her journal of the piece that it was, “finer than anything of the kind, either antique or modern.”

This cradle can be viewed as part of the Royal Collection.