How many come up for sale?

Around six a year reach the market on Sellingantiques, so this is a thin category. Even so, 33 different dealers have listed one. Most handle a single example and never see another.

What shape are they usually?

Two seats, either back to back or set side by side with an S-curved or serpentine division, so the sitters face different ways. Circular and lobed centre seats exist but they are the minority. In the samples they amount to one circular sofa, two clover-leaf seats and a pair of demi-lune couches.

Which timbers turn up most?

Walnut is the commonest named timber, appearing in about a quarter of titles, with rosewood second. Mahogany also appears, including on an early Victorian show-wood twin high-back sofa. One listing describes rosewood as simulated, painted on as graining rather than solid.

Are these all English?

British origin dominates, and three sampled titles state "English" outright. France is the only other origin named, appearing once as a gilded sofa.

Why so many different names?

Dealers use conversation seat, love seat and settee more or less interchangeably for the same object. "Conversation seat" is the most frequent. One title reads "Gossip Couch", and another pairs "Tete-a-Tete" with "Courting".

Does leather change where a piece sits?

The leather-upholstered examples all fall in the upper part of the range. They include a green buttoned leather double spoon-back and a leather love seat conversation settee. One swivel-action leather and rosewood sofa appears in the archive and nowhere else.