The Opium Bed

These cups form the finials on each of the four posts.

I have only seen opium beds in movies, but I think I found one.  Actually, Olive from Olive Out found it while we were out at yard sales.  She saw the turquoise and knew I would fall in love. Read Olive's latest post here.

 I bargained hard for it.  It came from a container shipped from Europe several years ago.  The pieces of the bed nailed into a wooden crate.  The platform was not included. 


 If anyone knows anything about this bed, please let me know.

I love it dearly.

The two end panels

A couple who kept showing up just before us or just after us at each sale warned us the next stop had a pile of junk and totes full of adult toys.

Now who could resist that!

When we arrived, we saw the junk and had to scramble around it to find the treasures.  I found some old pulls and some finials.  

The adult toys?  Well, Olive did not peek, but I had to.  They were all wrapped in new boxes.  Whew! 

Back to the opium bed.

Olive saw it in a stack of furniture pieces.

There might have been other treasures hidden in that pile, but I only saw the turquoise bed.

The wood is a very fine-grained wood with the turquoise paint embedded in the grain.

I have painted furniture for decades.  You cannot fake patina with such beauty as this. 

It is like satin to the touch.

The side rails are heavily carved with a cross and vine design.  I looked at probably a thousand beds the last few days and cannot find this exact style.   The bed is made to sit in the middle of the room.

 These side rails have pegs to slide into the paneled boards.  They sit very low to the floor.

This is the best photograph I could manage (you know how bad I am at photography).

 I just love these carved pieces!

 The straight piece with spindles is designed to fit across the back of the bed.

The front piece is hinged like a gate.


The opium bed is currently living in the back of my truck.  I have to make the decision:  Does it stay or is it destined for the booth?

I love it dearly.



Do I sell it by the piece and break up the bed or try to sell it as is?  Remember the platform is missing and that is what would hold it together.   It might just have to come inside for a little while - just to see if it fits somewhere.

Oh, and the adult toys?  A young lady bought all the totes.  Olive and I hope she plans to sell them on some internet site.  

There are two more posts this week on my vintage finds.  It was treasure city out there, folks.

See y'all!

Funky Junk


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