This sofa belongs to a range of furniture created in the eighteenth century, the era in which the creativity and skill of French cabinetmakers and ébénistes reached a peak. Many types of furniture already existed, but were reinvented at this time, as is the case with this sofa, in which seats were added at the ends.

This sofa was commissioned for the summer room belonging to Louis XVI’s aunts at Bellevue Palace and bears the stamp of Jean-Nicholas Blanchard, a master cabinetmaker, who collaborated with sculptor Barthélèmy Mamès Rascalon for this piece.

The upholstery is not original. It is known that by 1807, when the sofa was at the Tuileries Palace, during the time of Napoleon, the upholstery was no longer the original but rather the one we can see today. This tapestry, produced by the Gobelins Manufactory in the second half of the eighteenth century, has a background with leaf designs in two shades of red, giving a damask effect.