Bed

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Bedroom on the Detmold Open-air Museum premises

A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax.[1][2]

Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned

camp cot. Some beds contain neither a padded mattress nor a bed frame, such as the hammock. Other beds are made specifically for animals
.

Beds may have a headboard for resting against, and may have side rails and footboards. "Headboard only" beds may incorporate a "dust ruffle", "bed skirt", or "valance sheet" to hide the bed frame. To support the head, a pillow made of a soft, padded material is usually placed on the top of the mattress. Some form of covering blanket is often used to insulate the sleeper, often bed sheets, a quilt, or a duvet, collectively referred to as bedding. Bedding is the removable non-furniture portion of a bed, which enables these components to be washed or aired out.

Etymology

Modern day beds

In Europe, mattresses were stuffed with straw, chaff, animal hair (for instance

bedframe, even when present, supported the bed, but was not considered part of it.[3]: 674–5 vol1  Later innovations made bedframes more portable, and increased their importance.[3]
: 481vol3 : 674vol1 : 675–6 vol1 

History

Prehistory

In August 2020 scientists reported the discovery of the oldest grass bedding from

arthropods.[4][5][6]

Ancient history

Tutankhamun's gilded bed from the 14th century BC, a bier from his tomb, fashioned to resemble the goddess Sekhmet, the fierce lioness who was the protector of the kings in life and death, Cairo Museum

Early beds were little more than piles of

pillow.[8]

Sub-Saharan Africa

Bedding dated around to 3600 BC was discovered in

sedge and other monocotyledons topped with the leaves of Cryptocarya woodii.[9]

Ancient India

In ancient India bed was both on ground and hung to ceiling or stands. Swanswing bed called 'Hamsa Toolika Talpa' was made of wood hung free. The mattress and pillows used a special stuffing made of a dried orchid called 'suppatige'(Kannada). It is still considered the best form of stuffing. They also used cotton stuffing which is used even unto this day.

Europe

BC
to about c. 2500 BC

Beds found in a preserved northern Scottish village, which were raised boxes made of stone and likely topped with comfortable fillers, were dated to between 3200 BC and 2200 BC.[10]

The

olive tree trunk that used to grow on the spot.[11] The poem's author, Homer, also mentions the inlaying of the woodwork of the bed with gold, silver, and ivory.[11]

Ancient Romans
had various kinds of beds for repose. These included:

The Greeks and Romans were also having their meals in bed. They would recline on one side and reach out to pick up food from a nearby table.[14]

Near East

The

mother-of-pearl, and ivory
.

Headrest with two images of the god Bes, c. 1539–1190 BC, Brooklyn Museum

The adjacent image showcases a headrest. Headrests like this were used in life to support the head while sleeping. They are also found supporting a mummy's head in the coffin. This headrest perhaps was made specifically for the tomb, since the offering prayer has been inscribed on the supporting column, although the prayer may have been added after the death of the owner.[17]

Medieval history

Medieval Europeans lay on the floor on beds of

naked in bed, wrapping themselves in large linen
sheets which were stretched over the cushions.

Southampton Medieval Merchant's House bedroom

In the 12th century, luxury increased and bedsteads were made of wood much decorated with inlaid, carved, and painted ornamentation. They also used folding beds, which served as couches by day and had cushions covered with silk laid upon

manuscripts show metal bedsteads much higher at the head than at the feet, and this shape continued in use until the 13th century in France, many cushions being added to raise the body to a sloping position. In 12th-century manuscripts, the bedsteads appear much richer, with inlays, carving, and painting, and with embroidered coverlets and mattresses in harmony. Curtains were hung above the bed and a small hanging lamp is often shown.[citation needed
]

In the 14th century the woodwork became of less importance, generally being entirely covered by hangings of rich materials.

Four poster bed (also known as a tester bed) made its first appearance, the bed being slung from the ceiling or fastened to the walls, a form which developed later into a room within a room, shut in by double curtains, sometimes even to exclude all drafts. The space between the bed and the wall was called the ruelle, and very intimate friends were received there. The 14th century was also the time when feather beds became highly prized possessions.[18] Beds in aristocratic residences can be distinguished by enclosed curtains, these beds would have mattresses and pillows that were filled with feathers. Sheets were made of linen and blankets of wool. Rails attached to the beds would be for hanging clothes or to hold candles. In less wealthy houses, the bed would be made of three planks and a mattress made of dried heather or fern, they would sleep with a single sheet and an old blanket.[19]

In the 15th century beds became very large, reaching 7 to 8 feet (2.1 to 2.4 m) by 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 m). The mattresses were often filled with pea-shucks, straw, or feathers. At this time great personages were in the habit of carrying most of their property about with them, including beds and bed hangings, and for this reason the bedsteads were for the most part mere frameworks to be covered up; but about the beginning of the 16th century bedsteads were made lighter and more decorative, since the lords remained in the same place for longer periods.[citation needed]

Modern history

In the 17th century, which has been called "the century of magnificent beds", the style à la duchesse, with

pearls, and figures on a silver or golden ground. The great bed at Versailles had crimson velvet curtains on which "The Triumph of Venus" was embroidered. So much gold was used that the velvet
scarcely showed.

Napoleon's bed (château de Compiègne)

In the 18th century feather pillows were first used as coverings in Germany, which in the fashions of the bed and the curious etiquette connected with the bedchamber followed France for the most part. The beds were a la duchesse, but in France itself there was great variety both of name and shape. The custom of the "

princes being seated, the great officials standing, and the lesser officials kneeling, was held to denote the royal power even more than the throne
.

Ancien Régime. The earliest of which mention has been found belonged to Charles the Bold
. They had curtains over a light framework, and were in their way as fine as the stationary beds.

Iron beds appear in the 18th century; the

four poster
was the usual citizen's bed until the middle of the 19th century.

Bed sizes

A 10 feet (3.0 m) high ancient bed at the Bangladesh National Museum

Bed sizes vary considerably around the world, with most countries having their own standards and terminology.

Notable examples

The Great Bed of Ware, one of the largest beds in the world

One of the largest beds in the world is the

Shakespeare in Twelfth Night. It is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. Another bed in the V&A is the Golden Bed created by William Burges in 1879.[20]

In 1882, an Indian

Maharajah had a bed made of solid silver. At each corner of the bed there was a life-sized statue of a naked woman holding a fan. When the Maharajah lay on the bed, his weight started a mechanism that made the women wave their fans.[21]

In 1865, a convertible bed in the form of an

upright piano was available, which could provide home entertainment while saving space.[22]

Types

Lit à la polonaise (Polish style bed),[23] Royal Castle in Warsaw, 18th century.
Patent #322,177, on 14 July 1885 issued to Sarah E. Goode for a cabinet bed
Drawing of a candle-lit mourning bed (Trauergerüst) for abbess Franziska Christine von Pfalz-Sulzbach, 1776
Chinese style beds

There are many varieties of beds:

  • An adjustable bed is a bed that can be adjusted to a number of different positions. Most hospital beds are adjustable, so that a patient can have different parts of their body elevated for medical reasons. Some people have adjustable beds in private homes. Some adjustable beds are designed for couples; they use two separate mattresses and adjustment mechanisms. This permits one partner to be lying flat to sleep while the other has the head and shoulders elevated to watch television or read. Couple adjustable beds also permit partners with different medical conditions to select a mattress positioning that best suits them.
  • An air bed uses an air-inflated mattress, sometimes connected to an electric air pump and having variable, firmness controls. The portable version of an air bed can also be rolled up and packed; so is meant for travel or temporary guest use.
  • A bassinet is a bed specifically for newborns.
  • A box-bed is a bed having the form of a large box with wooden roof, sides, and ends, opening in front with two sliding panels or shutters; often used in cottages in Scotland: sometimes also applied to a bed arranged to fold up into a box.
  • A brass bed has a frame constructed from brass. A brass-plated bed is a cheaper bed of iron with a thin covering of brass, which with time peels off and the iron is exposed.
  • A bunk bed is two or more beds one atop the other. Bunk beds are used for adults in military barracks and in some ski lodges. Bunk beds are used for children and teens in summer camps. Some inexpensive hostels provide bunk beds for guests. Bunk beds are used for children in private homes.
  • A loft bed is similar to a bunk bed, except there is no lower bunk. This leaves space underneath for storage, other furniture, a desk etc.
  • A
    captain's bed[24]
    (also known as a "captain bed", "chest bed", or "cabin bed") is a platform bed with drawers and storage compartments built in underneath.
  • A camp bed (also "cot") is a simple, temporary, portable bed used by armies and by campers. Cots are also used to provide a sleeping surface for refugees and other homeless people during disasters, floods, or other crises.
  • A
    lit a la turque
    .
  • A curtained bed is a luxury bed with curtains.
  • A daybed is a couch that is used as a seat by day and as a bed by night. Usually it has pop up trundle which is used as bed in the night.
  • A futon is a traditional style of Japanese bed using a mattress on a wooden frame. Futons are also available in a larger Western style which can fold halfway for sitting. Futons were traditionally made with cotton, but in the 2000s, many futons include synthetic foam.
  • A
    tester
    .
  • A hammock is a piece of suspended fabric or netting, used on ships and in some homes.
  • A hideaway bed, invented by Sarah E. Goode in response to the needs of apartment-dwellers, folds up into another piece of furniture, such as a shelf or desk, when not in use.
  • A
    trolley (US: gurney)
    . The "hospital bed" is also a common unit of measurement for the capacity of any type of inpatient medical facility, though it is just as common to shorten the term to "bed" in that usage (e.g. The hospital has 250 beds...).
  • An
    babies and infants
    .
  • An iron bed, developed in the 1850s, is constructed of iron and steel.
  • A kang bed-stove is a Chinese ceramic room heater used as the platform for a bed.
  • A
    Punjabi
    bed made of tied ropes bordered by a wooden frame.
  • A mourning bed ("illustration") is a formal canopied bed, with the deceased, a wax effigy, or symbols of rank.
  • A Murphy bed or wallbed is a bed that can fold up into a wall or cabinet to save space.
  • An
    Ottoman bed
    (in the UK) is a type of storage bed in which the storage area is placed underneath the mattress base and accessed by lifting the hinged mattress frame with the help of a spring or hydraulic mechanism.
  • A pallet is a thin, lightweight mattress.
  • A
    platform bed
    is a mattress resting on a solid, flat raised surface, either free-standing or part of the structure of the room.
  • A roll-away bed is a bed whose frame folds in half and rolls in order to be more easily stored and moved. This is used in different settings, including hotels for either free or a nominal fee per night, where more people than expected may need to sleep in the same room, e.g. 5 people in a hotel room for 4 (two twin beds).
  • A rope bed has a wooden frame within which crossing ropes, which may support a straw- or down-filled single mattress. See charpai.
  • A slat bed is a
    flatpack
    bed with wooden slats for the bedbase.
  • A
    sofabed ("pull-out" or "pull-out bed") is a folding bed that is stored inside a sofa
    . Sofa beds are also called "convertibles" and "hideaways."
  • A state bed developed in Early Modern Europe from a hieratic canopy of state.
  • A toddler bed is a small bed for young children.
  • A trundle bed or "truckle bed" is a bed usually stored beneath another bed during the day. They have been in use for centuries. In the modern era they are sometimes referred to as a "sleepover bed" or "daybed with pop up trundle."
  • A vibrating bed (also known as a Magic Fingers bed) is typically a coin-operated novelty found in a vintage (c. 1960s-early 1980s) motel. For a nominal fee, the mattress vibrates for a duration of time. Alternatively it is a modern bed which vibrates by use of an off-centre motor. It is controlled by electronics for varying time and amplitude settings and is used therapeutically to ease back pains or as an erotic aid.
  • A waterbed is a flexible plastic mattress full of water. The plastic container needs a strong frame around it.

Frames

Bed frames, also called bed steads, are made of wood or metal. The frame is made up of head, foot, and side rails. For heavy duty or larger frames (such as for queen- and king-sized beds), the bed frame also includes a center support rail. The rails are assembled to create a box for the mattress or mattress/box spring to sit on.

Types include:

  • platform
     – typically used without a box spring.
  • captain or storage – has drawers beneath the frame to make use of the space between the floor and the bed frame.
  • waterbed – a heavy-duty frame built specifically to support the weight of the water in the mattress. (Mainly used on larger models)

Although not truly parts of a bed frame, headboards, footboards, and bed rails can be included in the definition. Headboards and footboards can be wood or metal. They can be stained, painted, or covered in fabric or leather.

Bed rails are made of wood or metal and are attached to a headboard and footboard. Wooden slats are placed perpendicular to the bed rails to support the mattress/mattress box spring. Bed rails and frames are often attached to the bed post using knock-down fittings.[25][26] A knock-down fitting enables the bed to be easily dismantled for removal. Primary knock-down fittings for bed rails are as follows:

  • Pin-and-hook fastener. A mortise or slot is cut vertically in the bedpost. Pins are inserted horizontally in the bed post so that the pins perpendicularly intersect the mortise. For example, if one looked in the mortise, one might see part of one horizontal pin at the bottom of the mortise and a part of a second pin toward the top of the mortise. Hooks are installed at the end of the rail. Usually these hooks are part of a plate that is attached to the rail. The hooks then are inserted into the bed post mortise and hook over the pins.
  • Plate-and-hook fastener. Instead of pins inserted horizontally into the bedpost, an eye plate (post plate) is installed on the bedpost. The hooks are installed on the rail, either as surface mount or recessed. Depending on the hardware, the bedpost may require a mortise in order to allow the hooks to fasten to the plate. This is also referred to as a keyhole fastener, especially if the connector is more of a "plug" than a "hook".
  • Bed bolts ("through-bolts"), are a different means of a knock-down connection. A hole is typically drilled through the bedpost. The bolt head is inset and covered with a plug. In the rail, a dowel nut or other type of nut receives the bolt. The springs are made from metal, which are swirled for maximum comfort

Safety rails, or

cot sides, can be added to the sides of a bed (normally a child or elderly person's bed) to stop anyone falling out of the sides of the bed.[27]
A safety rail is normally a piece of wood that attaches to the side rails, on one or both sides of the bed. They are made so that they can be easily removed when no longer required.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bed". The Free Dictionary By Farlex. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  2. ^ "Bed". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b Dictionnaire de l'ameublement et de la décoration depuis le XIIIe siècle jusqu'à nos jours, Havard, Henry, 1838-1921
  4. ^ "200,000 years ago, humans preferred to sleep in beds". phys.org. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. ^ "The oldest known grass beds from 200,000 years ago included insect repellents". Science News. 13 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. from the original on 6 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  7. from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Chimpanzees Make Beds That Offer Them Best Night's Sleep". National Geographic News. 18 April 2014. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  9. ^
    S2CID 11063722
    .
  10. ^ "Skara Brae – The Furniture". orkneyjar.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  11. ^ from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  12. ^ Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Bed". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. p. 94.
  13. ^ "BED". History of Science and Technology. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  14. ^ "13 facts about the history of the bed". Archived from the original on 13 July 2019.
  15. ^ Chisholm, Hugh (1910). The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. At the University Press.
  16. from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Headrest with Two Images of the God Bes". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  18. ^ a b "Medieval Furniture & Home Decor". furniturestyles.net. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  19. .
  20. ^ "The Golden Bed". Victoria and Albert Museum. 21 March 1879. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  21. Independent.co.uk. Archived
    from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  22. ^ Brooklyn Museum. "Decorative Arts: Convertible Bed in Form of Upright Piano". Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  23. ^ (in English) "Bed (Lit à la Polonaise)". getty.edu. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
  24. ^ "Captain's bed". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  25. ^ "Historical Guide: Bed Hardware". whitechapel-ltd.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2006.
  26. ^ "Bed Rail Fastener Options". home-improvement-and-financing.com. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  27. ^ "Bed Safety Rails". sleepcompare.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.

External links

  • Quotations related to Beds at Wikiquote
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