This bed probably dates from the first phase of the revival of the fashion for early 19th Centruy objects which is now known to be thriving by the 1890s. An early 19th Century design for a canopied bed in the Gillows coloured design book shows the same use of sphinx heads as finials on corner posts (see: S. Parissien, Regency Style, London, 1992, p. 173).