Antique Beds

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The modern bed is something of a mystery to many. In a culture that thrives on sleep deprivation we seem to have forgotten the eminence of a piece of furniture that we can claim to spend more time in than anywhere else during the course of our lives. That’s right; you spend more time asleep than you do in your cubicle, in your lazy boy, even in your car. Between one third and one half of the human life is taken up by sleep, and where we get that sleep says a lot more about us than one might think. Take the style of bed for starters: some people throw a box spring and a mattress on a minimalist frame and call it good enough. Others get an elaborate modern setup to give their bed a sleek, jet setting feel. Still others prefer to get a more classical style, antique beds suit them especially well.

Antique beds offer more than just a distinct look. In fact, judging solely on looks, they aren’t even a grouping at all. You can find a pre- world war one iron bed frame, and it qualifies as an antique. But so do sleigh beds, with their head and foot boards. And in a dominant fashion befitting their stature, Victorian style four post beds are also considered antique style. What is important to understand is that the term can refer to just about anything, so long as it is a style that has been in use for a few decades.

In fact, far more beds can be termed antique than modern. The bed itself is an entity that goes back further than habitation, to the nomadic days of the hunter-gatherer. Before tents were even invented, humans were sleeping on the skins of animals. As we settled down into cities and started farming, reeds replaced skins as the main component of bedding. Hay and feathers crept into the mix as time went on. Feathers in particular brought about the concept of a mattress, rather than simply a sleeping mat. Once the mattress was invented, it was a short leap to produce a piece of furniture to house the mattress. That invention was the first bed frame.

A bed frame became increasingly ornate, and a head board and foot board were added, eventually these grew to include full posts at the corners of the bed. After the four post antique beds showed up, it was only a matter of time before an upper frame was added, and curtains hung from it. During the centuries of royal rule in Europe the luxury of a bed achieved ridiculous heights. Some of the antique beds that nobility slept in were the equivalent of the boat, car, and house that are prominent among those who must keep up with the joneses today. Unlike those days, an authentic antique reproduction won’t cause you to open a second mortgage or sell off a child, but they will add style and flair to your bedroom that you just can’t get anywhere else.

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