Cane couch
Not on view
Although referred to by the English as a couch, this one-ended caned seat was a form favored in France and sometimes referred to as a "lit de repose," or daybed. It probably served a dual purpose—as an extra bed at night and extra seating during the day. The seat is softened by a “squab,” or generously stuffed mattress. Cane couches often were accompanied by sets of cane chairs, as in the Wentworth Room. In 1717, a New England man named John Welland noted that his principal room held “a Cane Couch[,] Squab & pillow” along with [an] “Elbow & 6 small cane chairs.”
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