Is a settee the same thing as a sofa here?

In practice, yes. The vocabulary is unusually loose for a single object: settee appears in 133 titles, with sofa and couch used for the same kind of piece. One listing simply strings them together as "Couch, Sofa, Settee". If a description says two-seater settee and another says small sofa, they can be describing much the same form.

Which period dominates this category?

The turn of the century, heavily. The dated field returns 71 Edwardian and 57 from the 1900s, with 20 in the 1890s and 12 in the 1910s. Against that there are 29 Victorian, 11 from the 1880s and only 12 Regency. Two entries fall in the 1800s and two in the 1930s. Seventeen listings say nothing more precise than "19th Century".

What woods do these frames use?

Mahogany runs through 143 titles and rosewood through 43. Between them they account for most of what comes to market. Satinwood, walnut, amboyna, oak and ebonised surfaces each appear in only a handful of listings.

Why does brass inlay sit at the top?

Brass inlay is in 17 titles and is almost entirely confined to the Regency and George IV rosewood scroll-end sofas and chaises. That group is small, under a tenth of the category, and it occupies the upper reaches of the range. Period and material move together here.

How often do inlaid sofas come up for sale?

About 21 come to market on Sellingantiques in a year, and 73 different dealers have listed one. That spread means it's a form almost every general furniture dealer meets, rather than a specialism.

Do these turn up as pairs or suites?

Sometimes. The archive records matched pairs of window seats, a pair of settees, a three-piece boudoir suite and an eight-piece parlour suite, the largest groupings noted. Groups and longer settees sit above single small seats in the range. The word small appears in nine titles, all towards the lower end.

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Antique Inlaid Sofas

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A small sofa or settee whose polished show-wood frame carries inlay rather than carving alone, made to be seen in a drawing room, parlour or bedroom alongside its upholstery.