Images(6)

Sofa

Date1820-1860

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Fluvanna County

MediumTulip poplar, yellow pine, iron, linen, cotton, Spanish moss, curled hair, grasses

DimensionsOverall: 33 1/4 × 78 3/4 × 29 3/4in. (84.5 × 200 × 75.6cm) Back folded down: 28 11/16 × 78 3/4 × 45in. (72.8 × 200 × 114.3cm)

Credit LineGift of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello

Object number2025-19

DescriptionUpholstered sofa with loose mattress and two bolsters; rectangular sofa with four tulip poplar legs, square in cross section and tapered on iron castors, rear legs rake towards rear; exposed tulip poplar rails; square upholstered ends; slightly angled, rectangular upholstered back with tufts; loose tufted mattress over seat with replaced webbing, ticking, and braces; back of sofa hinges on iron hinges towards rear to form flat bed when open; two additional legs (no castors) swing out on short rails from rear rail to support back when down; leg rails hinged with iron hinges to sofa’s rear rail; back held upright by toggles on rear of arms; may have been slipcovered originally.
Label TextThis convertible sofa has a history of ownership at Upper Bremo in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Completed around 1819 by John Hartwell Cocke in consultation with John Neilson, the house remains in the family along with Lower Bremo and Bremo Recess, two other homes on the larger property. The sofa appears in 1931-1933 HABS photos of Upper Bremo in the library with a slipcover over the upholstery.

Constructed in a basic neoclassical design with square, tapered legs and a boxy frame, both details popular in the early decades of the 19th century, the sofa likely postdates its earliest stylistic appearance. The woods of tulip poplar and yellow pine, along with the beefy nature of the legs and rails suggests this piece may have been produced by workers, perhaps enslaved, on the Bremo property or by a maker in rural Fluvanna County. This was not an urban object despite its unusual construction that allows the back to fold down forming a bed.

Convertible furniture was often produced in the 17th-19th centuries for use by ill or invalid individuals. Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee, visited Bremo for a prolonged stay during the Civil War and it is reported that a special bed was constructed for her due to her rheumatoid arthritis. While this report has not been substantiated, Mrs. Lee did write on August 11, 1864, that she had suffered a fall soon after her arrival at Bremo due to her cutches on the polished floor and was in pain “and the prospect of walking seems as far off as ever.” She stated that “I am so helpless I can only get across the room with great difficulty & with the aid of crutches & I can only move from one place to another thro’ necessity.” The convertible nature of this sofa and bed could have made this a useful piece of furniture for Mrs. Lee or others with limited mobility. While 1864 seems late for a neoclassical style sofa such as the Bremo example, mid-19th century neat, neoclassical pieces are known from other regions of the inland south including Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

The sofa survives with much of its original upholstery foundation at least semi-intact, allowing curators and conservators a chance to determine the original upholstery foundation shape and how it has changed over time through use in one house.
ProvenanceBelieved to have been originally owned by John Hartwell Cocke (Upper Bremo Plantation, Fluvanna County, VA); Bremo Trust; ca. 2017, transferred to Monticello (Charlottesville, VA); 2024, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)