Posted 4 years ago
keeponpushin
(22 items)
The first picture is example of what my friend has. Other 3 of my friends we’re trying to find out more about
Couch sofa antique | ||
| Sofas10 of 302 |  |  |
Couch sofa antique | ||
| Sofas10 of 302 | | |
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Posted 4 years ago
keeponpushin
(22 items)
The first picture is example of what my friend has. Other 3 of my friends we’re trying to find out more about
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I love it!! It would be perfect for people who really prefer not to interact with each another. ;^)
I hope you get yours reupholstered in a modern bold fabric....it would be quite the conversation piece, even if those sitting on it could not look each other in the eye.
keeponpushin, Wow, how did I miss this?
Yeah, love that first couch with the attached outward-facing end chairs. It gives the introverted and/or autistic a way of being in company without being TOO in company. };-)
Whoops, here it is:
*snip*
The Canapé à Confidante (pronounced kan-a-pay ah kon-fee-dahnt) is a long sofa having a seat at each end that faces outward at right angles to the main seat. The style was developed in 18th-century France reflecting the development of new types of furniture at that time. It is characteristic of Louis XV and rococo styles, as well as the mid-19th-century revivals of those styles. It is intended as seating for at least three people, not unlike an indiscret, except that the center section is usually much longer than the two side seats.
*snip*
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/antique-couch-sofa-and-settee-styles-4021117
About the style:
*snip*
But what of the notion of the retreat from the common realm into the private? This is perhaps best demonstrated by the ottoman’s close sibling-in-design and upholsterer’s cash-cow, the confidante, which according to deJean took its name from the notion that “at each end, someone could snuggle up to one of the cheeks and trade secrets with a confidante seated on one of the end seats.” A sofa with “wings,” or armchair-like appendages, the confidante wasn’t a direct replacement for the long, stiff benches of the old common rooms; it invited a certain feeling of intimacy, a withdrawal from the socially common into an exclusive, private realm.
*snip*
https://archinect.com/features/article/148987196/how-the-couch-furnished-modernity-s-notions-of-privacy
(Translated by Google Translate.)
*snip*
NAPOLEON III CONFIDENT SOFA SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY
In molded, carved and gilded wood, with acanthus leaf motif, the belt decorated with olive branches resting on eight feet, green velvet trim, partly padded
Height: 89 cm. (35 in.); Width: 234 cm. (92 in.); Depth: 105 cm. (41½ in.)
Origin
Most likely Blenheim Castle, England.
*snip*
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5667360
keeponpushin, It's a bit difficult to tell much about the piece of furniture in the second, third, and fourth pictures, because of the angles, and the per-post limit on the number of pictures.
Is it another Canapé à Confidante, or some other style?
Here's a piece on different styles of 'conversation' furniture:
https://www.messynessychic.com/2020/01/30/a-brief-compendium-of-the-conversation-chair/
A. Hepplewhite & Company Cabinet Makers 1794 publication in which the Confidante is described:
(Corrected text)
*snip*
CONFIDANTE.
This piece of furniture is of French origin, and is in pretty general request for large and spacious suits of apartments. An elegant drawing-room with modern furniture, is scarce complete without a confidante : the extent of which may be about 9 feet, subject to the same regulations as sofas. This piece of furniture is sometimes so constructed that the ends take away and leave a regular sofa: the ends may be used as Barjier chairs.
*snip*
https://archive.org/details/cabinetmakerupho00ahepuoft/page/n15/mode/2up
keeponpushin, I feel like I went down a rabbit hole on this one, but it's been an enjoyable rabbit hole. :-)
So, your friend's piece of furniture is a cabriolet sofa (the exposed wood frame), as well as a canapé a confidante, a style that first became popular during the reigns of French monarchs Louis XV and Louis XVI, but also enjoyed a revival during the Victorian era.
How old is your friend's sofa? I don't know, but perhaps the casters are a clue. If they're original to the sofa, that suggests Victorian:
*snip*
Patenting the Caster
Even though wheels (and therefore casters) have been around for quite a while, they weren't officially used to move furniture until the 1870s. David A Fisher filed the first patent for a caster in 1876:
*snip*
https://study.com/academy/lesson/history-of-furniture-casters.html
https://patents.google.com/patent/US174794A/en
https://blackinventor.com/david-fisher/
The presence of tufting in the upholstery also suggests Victorian:
*snip*
Furniture tufting began in the late 1800s in Victorian England, as much as 100 years after Philip Stanhope, the Earl of Chesterfield, commissioned the first piece that would take his name. Tufting actually coincided with the advent of the coiled spring and plushier sofas as a means to hold the horsehair stuffing in place.
*snip*
https://www.stoneycreekfurnitureblog.com/tufted-furniture/
*snip*
The deep-set buttoning, which has become a hallmark of contemporary Chesterfields, wasn’t added until the comfort-minded Victorian era. Likewise, the coiled springs used in sofa suspension didn’t receive a patent until 1828 — nine years before Queen Victoria ascended the throne.
*snip*
https://www.timelesschesterfields.com/history-of-the-chesterfield-sofa-i152
*snip*
FOREIGN PATENTS 5,668 Great Britain June 25, 1828
*snip*
https://patents.google.com/patent/US3078480
Apropos of nothing in particular, the Smithsonian has a detachable end piece from a canapé a confidante:
*snip*
End piece from canape confident or 3-sectioned upholstered sofa
Louis Magdaleine Pluvinet, French, became master in 1775; d. 1782–1785
Description
Louis XVI upholstered corner chair with the original gilding and webbing.
ca. 1780
*snip*
https://womenshistory.si.edu/object/end-piece-canape-confident-or-3-sectioned-upholstered-sofa%3Achndm_1967-89-1
Less wordy: I suspect that your friend's piece of furniture might be a Victorian revival canapé a confidante, because of the upholstery tufting and the casters.
However, I'm definitely not an expert. };-)
Keramikos thank you for all your info! You’re awesome
keeponpushin, You're welcome. :-)
It was an enjoyable rabbit hole for me.
Please understand that I'm not a vintage furniture expert, and even a bonafide expert would not necessarily be able to give an accurate assessment based on a few Internet pictures.
However, if you think the mystery has been solved, could you please change the status of this post from "Unsolved Mystery" to "Mystery Solved?"