The high backs and low arms of eighteenth-century upholstered settees were ideal for supporting two or more sitters. The large and deep sofas that supplanted settees were intended for more informal lounging or reclining. This settee was made together with the card table and four side chairs also displayed in the Verplanck Room (gallery 718). All descended in the Verplanck family. In 1965, the settee was reupholstered with a modern reproduction of a pumpkin-colored wool damask also given to the Museum by the Verplanck family.
Credit: Gift of James De Lancey Verplanck and John Bayard Rodgers Verplanck, 1939
c. 1765
Walnut, white pine, white oak
102.9 x 190.5cm
39.184.2
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection