Lot 83 D α

Merina figurative bas-relief bed panels, as exemplified by the two pieces known in the Barnes collection. The iconography and function of the few published carved wooden bed panels are unknown, other than that they were made for the Merina people in the central highlands of Madagascar

"The Merina bedstead consisted of lateral planks fastened to legs. As an elevated furnishing that indicated authority, the bed was historically restricted to elders, nobles, rulers, and royals. A bed's height was commensurate with the owner's status, the sovereign's being placed some 20 feet high. The Merina bed was further placed in the sacred northeast corner of a person's house, together with ritual items. Rather, the practice appears to have flowered in conjunction with the intensive international trade and diplomacy undertaken by Merina King Radama I (r. 1810–1828), particularly trade with Europe, and its associated radical changes in dress, architecture, and home furnishings."cf.