What's the difference between a daybed and a chaise longue?

In these listings, very little. Dealers use daybed, chaise longue, sofa, settee and couch for the same kind of long upholstered seat, and often stack two or three of the words into one title. Strictly, a chaise longue has a back and one raised end. The category term daybed covers single-ended, double-ended and reclining forms alike.

Which timbers were used for the frames?

Mahogany leads, named in 32 of 143 titles, with rosewood in 15. Walnut, oak, birch, teak and ebonised frames all appear in smaller numbers. Simulated rosewood turns up in a few Regency and George IV titles: cheaper timber grained and stained to imitate the figure of the real wood.

How old are most of these?

The dated field runs from 1800 to 1930, but only 34 listings commit to a clean year. The label 19th Century alone accounts for 55 entries, placing them within a hundred-year span and no closer. Where decades are given they cluster in the middle and later 19th century. Two Swedish painted settle benches and a Gustavian settee reach back to the 18th century, the earliest in the archive.

Are French daybeds common in this category?

They're a minority. Thirteen titles say French, covering bergère caned sofas, an Empire mahogany sofa, a Louis XVI style carved giltwood daybed, a Napoleon III piecrust chaise and a duchesse brisée. The French share is smaller among pieces currently for sale than across the archive as a whole.

Do daybeds come up often for sale?

Around 16 come to market on Sellingantiques in a year, and 68 different dealers have listed one. The typical dealer has handled a single example rather than kept a stock of them. That spread is why titles vary so much in wording from one listing to the next.

What does a listing mean by frame only?

Three listings offer the show-wood frame on its own, or describe the piece explicitly as for re-upholstery. The seat is there; the covering is not. At the other end, nine titles name the covering and little else: velvet, damask, floral linen, striped silk, green leather.