Bed

To support the head, a pillow made of a soft, padded material is usually placed on the top of the mattress.

In Europe, mattresses were stuffed with straw, chaff, animal hair (for instance horsehair, used for its resilience), coarse wool, or down feathers, and stacked, softest topmost.

This pile of mattresses, and the sheets, blanket, and pillows, was what early Europeans called a "bed"; it might be packed away during the day (a usage which survives in words like featherbed).

[4][5][6] Early beds were little more than piles of straw or some other natural material (e.g. a heap of palm leaves, animal skins, or dried bracken).

[citation needed] In the Miocene period, lasting from twenty-three to five million years ago, before the emergence of humans, apes began creating beds composed of a sleeping platform including a wooden pillow.

[11] The poem's author, Homer, also mentions the inlaying of the woodwork of the bed with gold, silver, and ivory.

The counterpanes were sometimes very costly, generally purple embroidered with figures in gold; and rich hangings fell to the ground masking the front.

In the walls of some houses at Pompeii bed niches are found which were probably closed by curtains or sliding partitions.

[16] Ancient Assyrians, Medes, and Persians had beds of a similar kind, and frequently decorated their furniture with inlays or appliques of metal, mother-of-pearl, and ivory.

In the early Middle Ages they laid carpets on the floor or on a bench against the wall, placed upon them were mattresses stuffed with feathers, wool, or hair, and used skins as a covering.

[18] They appear to have generally lain naked in bed, wrapping themselves in large linen sheets which were stretched over the cushions.

In the 12th century, luxury increased and bedsteads were made of wood much decorated with inlaid, carved, and painted ornamentation.

The Carolingian 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.

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.

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.

In the chambre de parade, where the ceremonial bed was placed, certain persons, such as ambassadors or great lords, whom it was desired to honour, were received in a more intimate fashion than the crowd of courtiers.

At Versailles women received their friends in their beds, both before and after childbirth, during periods of mourning, and even directly after marriage—in fact in any circumstances which were thought deserving of congratulation or condolence.

Iron beds appear in the 18th century; the advertisements declare them as free from the insects which sometimes infested wooden bedsteads.

[20] In 1882, Nawab of Bahawalpur Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abassi IV had a bed made of dark wood ornamented with 290 kilograms (640 lb) of sterling silver.

[21] In 1865, a convertible bed in the form of an upright piano was available, which could provide home entertainment while saving space.