Today the idea may seem to us claustrophobicextravagant and even a little uncomfortable, but in its day, a few centuries ago, sleeping locked in a closet was the best guarantee of spending a pleasant night. Pleasant, relaxed and comfortable. Our ancestors had so many good reasons to curl up in a kind of wooden closet with sheets that the curious thing is not that they did it, but that we—since the 20th century—have abandoned the habit.
In fact, there are those who propose recover the concept in the 21st century. Although, yes, with a technological point and betting on a much more modern aesthetic than the one that was popular in the times of our great-great-great-grandparents.
Beds in closets?
Exact. Today it may sound strange to us. To our ancestors, not so much. As I remembered recently told the BBC, there was a time, a fairly long one, between the Middle Ages and the beginning of the 20th century, when wardrobe beds were popular throughout Europe. In the 21st century, such a piece may seem curious to us, but the names with which we designate these pieces of furniture —“box bed” or “closed bed”—cannot be more descriptive. Although there were variations, with more or less elegant models and the details could vary, these items were nothing more or less than that: drawers with beds inside.
Wardrobe beds were popular enough that even today we can find some important samples or references. For example, in a museum in Wick, north of Scotland, they preserve a curious bed wardrobe of pine that helps to decorate, along with other period furniture, one of the rooms where the fishermen who arrived in the region during the herring season in the 19th century stayed.
Other equally curious examples can be seen in places as diverse as Austria, Holland either France. There, in the lands of Brittany, they were known as lit-clos. Even in the Rembrandt House Museumin Amsterdam, you can see today a “drawer bed” like the one used by the painter and his wife, Saskia.
The writers have told us about them Emily Bronte and Thomas Adolphus and Frances Eleanor Trollope and they have even shown them to us with their brushes Pieter de Hooch either Jacob Vrel. That’s not counting the multiple references to this type of furniture, both in stories and written texts. The representations show that its details could vary, but the philosophy was always the same: overhead cabinetswith legs and often doors or a small window that could be covered with curtains. Sometimes they even had two levels different. And they always contained beds for their owners to rest.
“It is the resting place of the maid or any other member of the family. The opening, which is left as the only means of access to the interior of this retreat, is provided with sliding doors, generally (as well as the entire front of the bed) beautifully carved. So that the occupant may, if he so desires, completely enclose himself,” they related circa 1840 Thomas and Frances Trollope.
From peasants to aristocrats
If today it is possible to find so many references it is because, clarifies the BBCthis type of structures was quite popular in homes throughout Europe, both in Great Britain and on the continent, from medieval times until the early 20th century. The British network also points out that all types of families used them. From peasants who wanted to rest after long days in the countryside to fishermen or distinguished members of the nobility.
At the end of the day, its purpose could always be the same, but among furniture beds—as is the case with furniture today—there were also relevant differences. There were simple ones. And there were some with engravings worthy of a palace.
But… Why did they use them? The correct question could be another: Why do we stop using them? Over time they went out of fashion and became rarities, but for centuries they guaranteed a comfortable way to spend the night. The reason? They offered privacy, were versatile, made it possible to make good use of space and to top off their service record, they helped to spend warm evenings in homes where, as remembers the historian Roger Ekircj, it was not unusual for the sap from the logs in the fireplace or even the inkwells to freeze.
The teacher remembers that between the 14th and 19th centuries Europe and part of North America suffered a Little Ice Age which froze the waters of the Thames River on almost twenty occasions. With such temperatures the prospect of locking oneself in a box at night didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Especially if you take into account that it could be shared with other people.
Extravagant perhaps, in the eyes of 21st century families; but the box beds were also smart. The most elaborate ones offered a seat and drawers in which clothes could be stored, just like today’s folding couches. Not to mention that they were a great option to convert places that a priori had been designed for other purposes into bedrooms.
For example, the Wick Society says that in 1980, a family from the Scottish Highlandsinstalled one of these beds in the barn so that part of its members could sleep there. The room designed for family rest had become too small and the design of the wardrobe bed gave them a great solution.
TIt was also not unusual for them to be offered to seasonal workers and immigrants and for them to be shared among several family members or co-workers. Perhaps this way they would be less comfortable – not to mention privacy – but on one of the nights of the Little Ice Age that hit Europe in the 17th century with icy temperatures, those wooden sarcophagi were an effective way to avoid the cold. Or that it was at least more bearable.
Perhaps that is why, even today, in 2024, there are those who look at the concept with interest. Not so that we go back to sleeping in pine closets with sheets and a mattress, but to reconsider whether there were other ways to design the places where, after all, we spend hours and more hours of rest each day. The smart bed Hi-Interiors or the capsule hotels Japan are two good examples.
Images | Wolfgang Sauber (Wikipedia), Wikipedia 2 and NGA
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