Are most listings whole beds or just the head?

Whole beds, mostly. "Bed" appears in 203 of the 331 titles and "bedstead" in 52, so the category is dominated by complete or near-complete frames described by size and timber. Heads sold on their own are the minority form. Where they appear, they tend to be pairs of singles, Art Deco walnut doubles or French upholstered panels.

King and king size lead, at 99 and 85 titles. Double appears in 88, single in 52, and super king in 11. The largest widths recorded include an 11ft satinwood bed head, a 7ft brass bed and several emperor frames. The titles give a figure and nothing more. Whether a stated king size or 5ft matches a modern mattress isn't something the listings establish.

Which periods are represented?

The dated field runs 1800 to 1940, with 190 listings carrying a clean year. The weight is twentieth century: 52 pieces from the 1930s, 39 from the 1920s, 38 from the 1900s. Older entries are often broad rather than precise. Victorian, 19th Century and Edwardian together account for 74 listings and pin nothing closer than a reign. Five listings are filed as 17th Century.

Why do pairs of singles come up so often?

Forty-four titles say "pair" and 20 say "single beds", so pairs are a real habit of the category. Several state the two can be joined into one wide bed. Matching is mentioned in ten titles. Pairs also show up as heads alone, without their frames.

Are French beds common in this category?

They are one of the two largest identifiable groups. "French" appears in 75 titles, roughly a fifth to a quarter of the category, with painted in 23, upholstered in 26 and Louis XIV, XV or XVI named in 17. Brass and brass-and-iron bedsteads make up a similar share, at 68 and 29 titles. Beyond French and English, origins named once or twice include Hungarian ash, Portuguese, Italian bombé, Venetian tapestry, Biedermeier and Anglo-Indian colonial.

How many antique headboards come up for sale?

Around 35 pieces a year across 61 dealers on Sellingantiques. That makes it a category you meet steadily rather than in bulk. The archive holds 331 listings in total, so the branches described above each rest on a decent run of examples.