Beds Furniture

A room inside a room: curtains drawn, lattice at the shoulder, an elm canopy overhead. Antique and tribal beds span China, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, the Congo, India, Indonesia, Nepal and France. Chinese canopy beds in elm and lacquer were curtained and carved; Senufo daybeds of Ivory Coast were hewn from a single trunk; Ethiopian beds are strung with plaited leather on wooden frames. Beds from the Cameroon Grassfields carry crouching leopards and rows of figures along their sides, while Luba, Nupe and Mbuti pieces add carved forms from central and West Africa. Contemporary platform beds in walnut, oak, mahogany and rattan, and a carved bed suspended by bronze chains, widen the range.

A bed is the biggest object in most rooms, and old wood gives it presence. A low tribal daybed works as a bench at the foot of a bed or in a garden room. Sleep is the one thing it takes seriously.