History of settees and sofas
Hello friends, today we are back in antique furniture to talk about settes and sofas. The word settee was used throughout the 18th century to describe any appropriate piece of seat furniture, whether it had a carved or upholstered back, while the term sofa came to be applied just to more heavily upholstered samples.
Most of these antique settees formed parts of suites and as such their designs matched those of the chairs in the suites. Also, since they were made to stand against walls, their backs were plain and unadorned.
The elegant French-influenced designs of the late 18th century gave way to the far heavier and extravagantly shaped pieces during the period of the Regency reigns of George IV and William IV. By the 1860 decade, the French taste had once again brought a lighter touch to the form of Victorian furniture, and the settee and the chaise long had taken on new organic style. During the last quarter of the century the upholstered and buttoned Chesterfield gained a nice level of popularity.
We hope you have enjoyed it.