From my previous post about our visits to Netherlands Open Air Museum with Mom & Dad and American Colleague's Wife, I got an interesting comment
For that reason, I like to come back on the Dutch Bedstee again.
This is the photo that shows the Parlor from Hindeloopen in Friesland.
Notice the steps to the 'Bedstee' (cabinet bed)?
Also called Box-Bed or Closet Bed and in French Lit-Clos
Katie Isabella wrote: A cupboard bed. That is unusual I think outside of your Country?
No it actually was quite common all over Western Europe as late medieval furniture, also in Scandinavia, England, Austria, France and of course The Netherlands as pictured here above.
Rembrandthuis - Main Living and Bedroom with Fireplace and Curtained Box Bed (Photo P. Hunt 2012). This is the actual desk and bedroom from Rembrandt as captured at the Rembrandthuis Museum in Amsterdam!
When Pieter and I did visit the Netherlands Open Air Museum on our own, we were told some rather shocking facts.
Those Box-beds are rather short. One could argue that people some 600 years ago were shorter. True but the main reason was that people in those days slept almost 'seated' because of kidney problems mainly!
They all used wooden barrels for keeping their meat or bacon through the winter period, in layers of salt. So the sodium intake on average was extremely high during that time.
No wonder that seldom a high age was reached...
As a child I too remember Mom keeping the bacon in the cellar salted inside a wooden barrel.
So even post WWII that was still going on. Till in the 60s and 70s we had access to freezers, locally, where you could rent a compartment for storing the fresh meat and such and from the 70s every household had meanwhile a fridge and a freezer.
But back in late medieval times, there was nothing else to keep meats fresh or to store other things.
Still remember as a girl that also ceramic pots, inside and outside glazed, used for making Sauerkraut. The salted Sauerkraut got weighted and pressed down inside those crocks.
Here you also see dried meats hanging from the ceiling, just to let them cure.
We also kept a Curing Cabinet for hams and other meats.
That's how we used to survive... and of course eating eggs as they were available year long!
Please click for some interesting photos from: French Lit-Clos/Dutch Bedstee/Box-bed or Closet-Bed late medieval Western European Furniture on my Pinterest board.
It is quite interesting to go back in time for getting an idea of how our ancestors survived!
Thanks for your vist and comment.
Netherlands Open Air Museum with Mom & Dad and American Colleague's Wife | previous post by me
Hello Mariette, It is interesting how our dietary and other habits can influence our architecture and domestic arrangements. How ironic that the charming closet beds you show and their fine craftsmanship had their origin in salted meat and cabbage. (I am wondering if in reality those enclosed beds might not be a little limiting and claustrophobic--that is how I feel about the mosquito nets so necessary in Taiwan.)
ReplyDelete--Jim
Dearest Jim,
DeleteWell, it was quite shocking to us when they told us at the Dutch Open Air Museum about the common kidney problems... Space also might have been limited; who knows? Claustrophobic might not come first but it sure was not an aired out area! Sure, when only heating was in the one room, it feels good for sleeping near that source or even when it is not burning at night. We all are so used to modern day luxuries that it will be hard to imagine how the struggle for life went about back then.
Hugs,
Mariette
Liebe Mariette,
ReplyDeleteviel Freude wünscht dir
Elisabeth
Liebe Elisabeth,
DeleteDanke und dir auch eine gute Woche!
Liebe Grüße,
Mariette
I love french country decor! Hope you are having a wonderful week. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDearest Likeschocolate,
DeleteThis is a bit more than French country decor, it is an actual piece of history and culture.
In these photos I only show some typical Dutch homes...
Hugs,
Mariette
Incredibly interesting furniture!
ReplyDeleteDearest Anne,
DeleteYes, people were inventive for staying comfy and warm and for utilizing limited space.
Did see some Scandinavian closet-beds as well so I guess they were rather common in the Northern part of Western Europe.
Hugs,
Mariette
I think kitties would enjoy those box beds as they would feel cozy in them :-) Interesting that people slept in such posture because of kidney problems! I also read somewhere that people slept in seated position because lying down would be for deceased people. I guess postures and reasoning for them differ by region, era, etc. As for meat storing, we really take it for granted but refrigerator is a great invention :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day, Mariette!
Dearest Tamago,
DeleteHah, while I was finding out more about them, I was thinking the very same! That would make a perfect hiding place for them.
Yes, I also came across that bit of information about being it a position for the deceased. Each region had its own habits I guess and that got passed on for generations. Now we only can read about it in history and by viewing old prints, paintings or photos.
Oh sure, the meat storing I do remember that curing cabinet when I was a girl. We are so spoiled nowadays with our refrigerators!
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette - although, as you mentioned these beds are too short due to kidney problems, I can just imagine how cosy they must have been, and especially so during the extremely cold winter months. Medieval house must have been draughty and cold without any proper heating or insulation so a cosy box to climb into must have been very welcome.
ReplyDeleteDearest Rosemary,
DeleteYes, that was the explanation we got from the docent at the Dutch Open Air Museum but sure, also height related to that era.
You are so right about those Closet Beds creating a 'warm nest', also since it was part of the big room where they did use a stove. Medieval homes everywhere lacked the tight sealing off and insulation that we all know at present.
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette,
ReplyDeleteoh, as you know I'm a passionate traveller and so I love your post. It's travelling without moving - super cool.
Thank you so much and have a wonderful time
Elisabeth
Dearest Elisabeth,
DeleteYeah, guess in your neck of the woods one is already living indoors as it really is autumn!
Then such a convenient trip back in history is lovely.
We all are so spoiled when looking at ages past, people did not have central heating and bathroom luxuries we all know.
Sending you hugs,
Mariette
Ja, dat eten was vroeger niet zo heel gezond. Veel zout en dierlijk vet. En nadien nog suiker
ReplyDeleteIk weet niet of jij het (ook) nog kent, maar mijn oma smeerde het uitgebakken vet van het spek lekker dik ook nog...op haar brood, en dan nog met een flinke laag suiker er overheen. :)
Maar, het rare is, nadat ik eens een stamboom stuk ingezien heb, en toen de overlijdensdata eens bestudeerd heb, dat ze eigenlijk toch best wel oud werden, zeker zo oud of ouder dan nu, alleen de kindersterfte was hoger, en ook als je ziek werd was de behandeling nog niet zo goed. Lag er misschien aan dat ze meer moesten bewegen, en dat er niet zoveel overdaad was, anders zou ik het niet kunnen verklaren.
Beste Marian,
DeleteInderdaad, een heel ander leef patroon en ook de voeding van toen. Ja, wij kregen altijd spekvet en sopten er onze witte (!) mik in zodat het vet langs onze kin dreef! Lèkker was dat en alleen Papa kreeg het spek, wij alleen het vet... Die moest hard werken. Wij deden er geen suiker op! Er werd toen zeer zeker meer bewogen dan heden ten dage. Veel te voet of met de fiets en alles met de hand zelf doen, niks machinaal! Dat is een enorm verschil, dus die hebben hun calorieën wel verbrand. Er was verder ook geen luxe, geen snoepgoed etc. Gebak bij een bruiloft en zoiets.
Liefs,
Mariette
What a wonderful post, Mariette. You are quite correct about the "lit-clos" in French. I was also told as a child by my tante Colette, who was very much into antiquities, that one of the reasons people slept in a more-or-less- seated position was because they associated lying flat with death -- the laying out of the body and burial. But, as you say, they were much shorter in those days. At 5'1" tall, I would have been considered average to tall for a woman.
ReplyDeleteGros bious,
M-T
Dearest Marie-Thérèse,
DeleteYes, there are several aspects from that era we need to keep in mind!
It is very hard to imagine at present time how one would have slept ages back.
Your aunt also had a valid reason which I've also come across when reading more in-depth about the Lit-Clos and their history.
Hugs,
Mariette
Oh I've learned something today from this great post my friend.
ReplyDeleteThe small beds are probably because people were short back then.
Thank you for sharing this interesting things with us. You are wonderful and filled with knowledge from all your traveling in life.
Dearest Fabby,
DeletePeaking back into history is always interesting and also to see the actual bed of the great Dutch painter Rembrandt! She length of the beds back then had to do with several things, people's height being a lot less than it is nowadays. Also the preferred upright seating position due to kidney problems.
Hugs,
Mariette
Soggiorno, camera da letto con camino, stupenda.
ReplyDeleteBuona serata
Caro Giancarlo,
DeleteInfatti alla fine dei tempi medievali un concetto molto intelligente!
Un abbraccio,
Mariette
I would imagine that the cupboard bed would keep you warmer at night.
ReplyDeleteDearest Janey,
DeleteThat no doubt was the most important reason of having it that way!
Hugs,
Mariette
I love this style of furniture. It is cozy and unpretentious at the same time elegant.
ReplyDeleteDearest Kelleyn,
DeleteYes, it certainly was very cozy and closing the doors, your entire bedroom was hidden.
The one from painter Rembrandt had velvet curtains to draw.
Hugs,
Mariette