A valance is a short length of fabric hung horizontally to conceal the top of curtains or a curtain rail, or the frame and fittings of a bed. It may be pleated, gathered, swagged or flat, and is often trimmed with fringe, braid, tassels or other passementerie.
Valances were an essential part of the grand state beds of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, where elaborate fabric hangings around the tester and the base of the bed displayed wealth and taste as much as they kept out draughts. Window valances became an important element of fashionable decoration in the Georgian and Regency periods, when designers devised complex arrangements of swags and tails, and remained popular throughout the Victorian era alongside the stiffened pelmet and the shaped lambrequin. Surviving antique valances, particularly embroidered or crewelwork bed valances, are collected as historic textiles and can be adapted to new uses. In restoring a period interior, a well-chosen valance can give windows and four-poster beds proper proportions and finish. The word is also used for decorative fabric or leather edging on shelves and for the skirt of upholstered furniture.
