The handrail probably has the hangers perpendicular to the railing instead of plumb to the ground. Just the cheapest ones you can get.

Could be a sconce instead of a weirdly placed handle.

It’s a curtain rod to a window midway up the stairs. We’re looking down a flight of steep older stairs. The mattress is lit by the window that is (mostly) under the rod, and by an open door at the bottom of the stairs.