Accurate Description of Item
One Early 20th Century Cabinet Style Murphy Bed
Appraiser Remarks
The Murphy bed was an innovation developed at the turn of the 19th Century designed for small living accommodations like Bachelor apartments and often used as a comedic device in early Silent movies.
The bed is named for William Lawrence Murphy (1876–1959), who applied for his first patents around 1900. According to legend, he was wooing an opera singer, but living in a one-room apartment in San Francisco, and the moral code of the time frowned upon a woman entering a man's bedroom. Murphy's invention converted his bedroom into a parlor, enabling him to entertain. Earlier fold up beds had existed, and were even available through the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog, but Murphy introduced pivot and counterbalanced designs for which he received a series of patents, including one for a "Disappearing Bed" on June 18, 1912 and another for a "Design for a Bed" on June 27, 1916.
Values for them peaked during the 1980's and declined somewhat since then, in the current market one would sell in the $500.00- $700.00 range.
The bed is named for William Lawrence Murphy (1876–1959), who applied for his first patents around 1900. According to legend, he was wooing an opera singer, but living in a one-room apartment in San Francisco, and the moral code of the time frowned upon a woman entering a man's bedroom. Murphy's invention converted his bedroom into a parlor, enabling him to entertain. Earlier fold up beds had existed, and were even available through the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog, but Murphy introduced pivot and counterbalanced designs for which he received a series of patents, including one for a "Disappearing Bed" on June 18, 1912 and another for a "Design for a Bed" on June 27, 1916.
Values for them peaked during the 1980's and declined somewhat since then, in the current market one would sell in the $500.00- $700.00 range.
Estimated Value
$500.00- $700.00
Re: Murphy Bed
One Early 20th Century Cabinet Style Murphy Bed
The Murphy bed was an innovation developed at the turn of the 19th Century designed for small living accommodations like Bachelor apartments and often used as a comedic device in early Silent movies.
The bed is named for William Lawrence Murphy (1876–1959), who applied for his first patents around 1900. According to legend, he was wooing an opera singer, but living in a one-room apartment in San Francisco, and the moral code of the time frowned upon a woman entering a man's bedroom. Murphy's invention converted his bedroom into a parlor, enabling him to entertain. Earlier fold up beds had existed, and were even available through the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog, but Murphy introduced pivot and counterbalanced designs for which he received a series of patents, including one for a "Disappearing Bed" on June 18, 1912 and another for a "Design for a Bed" on June 27, 1916.
Values for them peaked during the 1980's and declined somewhat since then, in the current market one would sell in the $500.00- $700.00 range.