Sofa, who invented it? From its origins to the present day

How did the sofa come into being? The evolution up to today

The history of the sofa is a very important topic to know for those who love the world of furniture. Because of the importance it has assumed in our lives, the sofa is an indispensable piece of furniture whether placed in the kitchen or in the living room as a distinctive element of the common imagination.

But who invented the sofa? In this article we try to trace its origins back to modern sofas.

The word sofa: what does it mean?

The etymology of the word ‘divano‘ (sofa in Italien) comes from the Turkish ‘divan‘ and the Arabic ‘diwan‘ and meant, in the Ottoman Empire, the registry and thus the customs office. Then, with the Turks, the meaning shifted to the Council of State and more precisely to the council chamber, the room where power was administered in Constantinople times. And in those very rooms, along the walls were long upholstered seats, which were the only furnishing elements of the ‘diwan‘.

Over the centuries, the sofa as furniture became part of the furnishings of the rooms of stately homes from the 17th century onwards, having the appearance of an armchair.

What is the difference between a sofa and a couch?

Today, there is no difference between a sofa and a couch. They are essentially the same thing, what changes is the term. In fact, it is a linguistic difference that has led to the word ‘divano‘ being used more in some languages such as Italian while, in Anglo-Saxon languages such as English and German, the term ‘sofà‘ has established itself in usage.

The word ‘sofa’ originally comes from Turkish and means ‘cushion‘. So, we can understand that the sofa originated from the many-cushion seats of the Arab tradition.

Sofa history and ancient sofa types

We have seen that the first sofas were upholstered seats made even more comfortable with the addition of many cushions. In the ancient Arab world, they were used as thrones, but the ancient Romans changed their use by creating the triclinium that furnished the homes of aristocrats.

The sofa, proper, as we understand it today, dates back to the 17th century. The idea of sitting in company is the work of the French who, to describe the new furniture, began to invent bizarre seats such as two-seater sofas for intimate conversations, two- or three-seater sofas with crossed seats and the ‘Indiscret’, the first proposal for a round sofa.

At the court of Louis XIV and XVI the sofa continued to develop, but it was in the Victorian period that the sofa became a symbol of social status with the Chesterfield sofa.

The sofa was invented by Englishman Jay Wellington Couch in 1895. In fact, in addition to ‘sofa‘, the term used in English is actually ‘Couch‘. The idea of not only sitting but also lying down on the couch came from this man who invented a longer seat on which he could also sleep and rest.

Since the 1960s, thanks to technological innovation and new materials, the sofa has taken on the most diverse shapes and configurations. The Charles sofa is the world’s best-selling model and was designed by Antonio Citterio of B&B.

Today’s sofa: modern and design sofas

Nowadays, a variety of sofas in different styles and sizes are available on the market, and above all, they can be customised according to one’s taste. This is made possible by modular sofas, by combining as many elements, also known as ‘modules‘, as desired, up to the required sofa size.

Depending on the length, we can have 2-seater sofas, 3-seater sofas, 4-, 5- and 6-seater sofas. And that’s not all! There are very special designer sofas that are distinguished, on the other hand, by their lines and shapes, such as dormeuses, backless sofas or single chaiselongue, round sofas and sofas with a square-shaped peninsula.

Modern sofas, however, can also be distinguished by their upholstery. There are leather and faux leather sofas, fabric sofas with textures, patterns and prints, eccentric in style, velvet sofas whose shapes are also reminiscent of antique sofas, chesterfield style or capitonnée.

Based on the functionality and comfort that modern sofas can offer today, more and more recliner sofas are being designed with seat-lift mechanisms, adjustable headrests, and electronic devices such as integrated USB sockets for charging tablets and mobile phones.

Who invented the sofa bed?

Another invention of recent times is the sofa bed. This type of sofa also dates back to the 17th century, but it was in the 1930s that thanks to a Sicilian-born Italian, Bernardo Castro, the fold-out sofa became popular. After moving to America, Mr. Castro opened a furniture shop and realising the economic difficulties of families during the Great Depression, who lived in very small flats, he created a new sofa model with an integrated bed that had the advantage of folding quickly.

Over the years, sofa bed manufacturers have been busy developing models with increasingly innovative opening and closing mechanisms that are easy for the user to handle.