17TH CENTURY

Canopy beds appear to have been closely influenced by architectural construction. They are the only form of furniture noted in the Ming dynasty carpenter's manual, Lu Ban Jing, to have used auspicious measurements that were also employed for buildings. It was common practice to use drapery to create a private world within a closed curtain, and examples can be seen in Ming and Qing woodblock prints. As noted by Sarah Handler in her discussion of the form in Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture, London, 2001, pp.139-58, canopy beds occupied a central and dominant position in the Ming dynasty household. During the daytime they would be used, with curtains drawn, for entertaining guests, often seated around small items of furniture designed to be accommodated on the beds. At nighttime, the curtains would be closed and the bed would become a private world of rest and intimacy.