Box-bed
enclosed bed which can be closed with doors or curtains
A small box-bed (also known as a closed bed, close bed, or enclosed bed; less commonly, shut-bed) is an enclosed bed made to look like a cupboard, half-opened or not. The form originates in western European late medieval furniture.
The box-bed is closed on all sides by panels of wood. One enters it by moving curtains, opening a hinged door or sliding doors on one or two slides.
The bed is placed on short legs to prevent moisture due to a dirt floor.
In front of the box-bed is often a large oaken chest, the same length as the bed. This was always the 'seat of honour,' and served also as a step for climbing into the bed. It was also used to store clothing, underwear and bedding the rest of the time.
The closed-bed in Brittany
In Brittany, the closed-bed (French: lit-clos) (Breton: gwele-kloz) is a traditional furnishing. In homes with only one room, the box-bed allowed some privacy and helped keep people warm during winter.
The public source identifies “Box-bed” as enclosed bed which can be closed with doors or curtains. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Box-bed, enclosed and closed.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2378930. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Box-bed” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.