Confidante
A confidante (also known as a canapé à joue, a canapé à confidants, or a canapé à confidant(e)) is a type of sofa, originally characterized by a triangular seat at each end, so that people could sit at either end of the sofa and be close to the person(s) sitting in the middle. The ends were sometimes detachable, and could be removed and used on their own as Burjair chairs. The name Confidante was coined by cabinetmaker George Hepplewhite, who described it in his Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide as being "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, […]".
References
Reference bibliography
- Banham, Joanna; Shrimpton, Leanda, eds (1997). "Sofas and Settees". Encyclopedia of interior design: M–Z.. 2. Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 9781884964190.
- Burton, Elizabeth (1967). The Georgians at home: 1714–1830. Longmans.
- Clouston, K. Warren (1975). The Chippendale period in English furniture. EP Publishing.
- DeJean, Joan E. (2009). The age of comfort: when Paris discovered casual—and the modern home began. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781596914056.
- Singleton, Esther (1970). The furniture of our forefathers. B. Blom.
- Yaxley, David (2003). "confidante". A researcher's glossary of words found in historical documents of East Anglia. Larks Press. ISBN 9781904006138.
- Zoglin, Ron; Shouse, Deborah (1999). Shouse, Deborah. ed. Antiquing for Dummies. For Dummies. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 9780764551086.
Further reading