A real sofa is not just something to sit on, but a place to surrender oneself…
A curious thing we’ve noticed about old paintings of sofas is that people are rarely sitting on them properly.
They tend to be either stretched out or curled up, or perhaps leaning sideways and slipping down in a dozy sort of way. Postures are rarely optimal, from physiotherapist’s point of view.
A Girl Asleep on a Sofa (1880) by Jacob Henricus Maris. (Image credit:Glasgow Life Museums via creative commons)
This 1880 painting, A Girl Asleep on a Sofa by Jacob Henricus Maris, is a rather lovely example. A young girl lying asleep on a dark sofa, completely given over to rest. Of course, it may have been posed or even made up by the artist, but it doesn’t look that way. She doesn’t look like she’s performing.
Quite the opposite: she has let go.
And that, you might say, is one of the great tests of a sofa. All sorts of chairs can support or accommodate you, but a really good sofa has to make you feel safe enough to yield.
It’s true that at Schplendid, we think about this perhaps more than is normal, but believe us when we say that that kind of deep, profoundly trustworthy comfort doesn’t come out of nowhere.
It has to be built in, with really solid frames and proper springs, and high quality natural upholsteryand cushion stuffing (ideally goose down, of course). In other words, in needs structure, depth, give and reliance that you can instinctively feel as soon as you sit on in – and then, if you like, collapse into it.
We hate the fact that so many modern sofas have become disposable objects that won’t last more than a few years.
These old paintings remind us of a time when furniture was made to last forever. And if was a sofa, you could feel you could utterly surrender yourself to it.
That’s the sort of feeling we at Schplendid want to bring back, and into as many homes as possible.
The Art of Letting Go
A real sofa is not just something to sit on, but a place to surrender oneself…
A curious thing we’ve noticed about old paintings of sofas is that people are rarely sitting on them properly.
They tend to be either stretched out or curled up, or perhaps leaning sideways and slipping down in a dozy sort of way. Postures are rarely optimal, from physiotherapist’s point of view.
This 1880 painting, A Girl Asleep on a Sofa by Jacob Henricus Maris, is a rather lovely example. A young girl lying asleep on a dark sofa, completely given over to rest. Of course, it may have been posed or even made up by the artist, but it doesn’t look that way. She doesn’t look like she’s performing.
Quite the opposite: she has let go.
And that, you might say, is one of the great tests of a sofa. All sorts of chairs can support or accommodate you, but a really good sofa has to make you feel safe enough to yield.
It’s true that at Schplendid, we think about this perhaps more than is normal, but believe us when we say that that kind of deep, profoundly trustworthy comfort doesn’t come out of nowhere.
It has to be built in, with really solid frames and proper springs, and high quality natural upholstery and cushion stuffing (ideally goose down, of course). In other words, in needs structure, depth, give and reliance that you can instinctively feel as soon as you sit on in – and then, if you like, collapse into it.
We hate the fact that so many modern sofas have become disposable objects that won’t last more than a few years.
These old paintings remind us of a time when furniture was made to last forever. And if was a sofa, you could feel you could utterly surrender yourself to it.
That’s the sort of feeling we at Schplendid want to bring back, and into as many homes as possible.