Antique Chinese Ningbo Wedding Opium Bed

Antique Chinese Ningbo Wedding Opium Bed.

This bed has been Sold. To view all of our wedding beds CLICK HERE.

This is a very beautiful and unusual style antique Chinese wedding bed. Unlike some of the more ornate wedding beds that sit on a platform, this bed is supported by 2 long narrow cabinets on the sides. Each cabinet has a small panel door with floral relief carvings on a black background. Between the 2 cabinets is an apron with carved bats in the corners and fruit carvings in the center. The bats are symbols of good luck and the fruit is most likely pomegranates, as they were an emblem of fertility.

The old base frame sits on the cabinets. The frame originally had a woven sleeping surface. You can see the ends of the twine tied off on the frame. but all of the center section has been removed. The bed frame now uses a front edge board and plywood to support the mattress. These pieces are included but we wanted to show the original frame in the photos. A full size mattress fits very nicely on the bed (mattress shown but is not included).

Antique Chinese Ningbo Wedding Opium Bed Details:

The front frame consists of 2 corner posts that have fancy carved pieces of wood and a header piece that matches the style of the corner posts. The header and in the corner posts each have a carved wood section with bone inlaid designs. There is also a nicely carved piece on the bottom inside corners that also have bone inlays. Several small pieces of the inlay are missing. There is a top rail over the header that overhangs each end to give the front a finished detail. The rail also has dovetail cutouts on the back side to lock the front onto the ceiling frame.

Each corner of the bed has a post to support the ceiling. There are panels on each side and across the back between the posts. The panels all have carvings of various plants and flowers. The back also has the carved panels across the top. The frames around the panels have a rounded edge on the side facing the inside of the bed. The outsides of all the panels are plain without any carvings.

If you look at the photos you can see where there are mortised cut out into the side rails about 12″ down from the top. There is a straight horizontal stretcher that goes into the slots. We do have the pieces but the bed was photographed before we realized we had them. If you need to see a photo with the stretchers installed, please email us and we will send them.

The ceiling frame is forms 4 open sections. There would have been wood panels or some other type of material filling the sections, but now they are open. We have a white sheet stretched across the top, but since many people now have ceiling fans it may be best to keep the top open to allow for air flow.

This bed as shown in the photos has been assembled completely without fasteners, however it has been screwed together in the past to add some extra rigidity.

This antique Chinese bed is functional as well as decorative. It can be used as a sleeping bed or in a more formal room for seating.

This bed is delivered disassembled, but 2 people should be able to put it together in about an hour.

Antique Chinese Ningbo Wedding Opium Bed

Chinese Wedding Bed Specifications:

Region: China, most likely Ningbo

Material: Mixed Wood with bone inlay.
Approx Age: 1850, Qing Dynasty
Approx. Dimensions: 72″ long, 57″ Deep, 81″ Tall (Uses a Full Size Mattress)

SKU # ML-09182

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