Eileen Gray Monte Carlo Sofa

Designer, artist and architect Eileen Gray was one of the most fascinating creative figures of the 20th century. Her body of work includes lustrous lacquered pieces — her Dragons chair set an auction record for modern furniture ($28 million) at the 2009 sale of the Yves Saint Laurent estate — and sleek chrome furnishings that rival the work of Le Corbusier and the members of the Bauhaus as exemplars of pure, modernist design.

The independent and unconventional daughter of Irish landed gentry, Gray studied painting at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in her early twenties before moving to Paris in 1906 to pursue her artistic dreams. Gray had become captivated by lacquerware after seeing an exhibit in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and in Paris persuaded an expatriate Japanese master of the painstaking process, Seizo Sugawara, to teach her. Within a few years, Gray had become known among the cognoscenti for her sculptural lacquered furnishings, which she incorporated into the homes of interior design clients.

Gray was ever evolving as a designer. By the early 1920s she was creating geometric works that embodied the essence of Art Deco and the nascent modernist design movement. Some pieces — such as her Bricks screen, an assemblage of pivoting rectangular panels — employ the planar forms favored by Gerrit Rietveld and other De Stijl architects of the Netherlands. Others feature the tubular chrome framing used by Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. These include the Bibendum chair — named for the resemblance of its semicircular back and armrest to the character known in English as the Michelin Man — and the adjustable E 1027 side table, conceived in 1927 for the interiors of a stark white villa she designed for herself in the South of France.

Never a self-promoter, Gray drifted out of the limelight in the 1930s. Interest in her work was revived in the early ’70s, however, when the estates of her early clients came to auction. Her original lacquer pieces are the most coveted, but, as the sale of the Dragons chair shows, are rare and extremely expensive.

None of Gray’s designs were made in large numbers until, a few years before her death, she granted a production license. These pieces range in price from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on furniture type and condition. Gray’s work has become iconic of practical and elegant modernist design. Yet, as you will see on 1stDibs, many of her creations have a simplicity that makes them welcome even in a traditional setting.

Black leather, silk velvet cushions, breathable bouclé fabric — when shopping for antique or vintage sofas, today’s couch connoisseurs have much to choose from in terms of style and shape. But it wasn’t always thus. 

The sofa is typically defined as a long upholstered seat that features a back and arms and is intended for two or more people. While the term “couch” comes from the Old French couche, meaning to lie down, and sofa has Eastern origins, both are forms of divan, a Turkish word that means an elongated cushioned seat. Bench-like seating in Ancient Greece, which was padded with soft blankets, was called klinai. No matter how you spell it, sofa just means comfort, at least it does today.

In the early days of sofa design, upholstery consisted of horsehair or dried moss. Sofas that originated in countries such as France during the 17th century were more integral to decor than they were to comfort. Like most Baroque furnishings from the region, they frequently comprised heavy, gilded mahogany frames and were upholstered in floral Beauvais tapestry. Today, options abound when it comes to style and material, with authentic leather offerings and classy steel settees. Plush, velvet chesterfields represent the platonic ideal of coziness. 

Vladimir Kagan’s iconic sofa designs, such as the Crescent and the Serpentine — which, like the sectional sofas of the 1960s created by furniture makers such as Harvey Probber, are quite popular among mid-century modern furniture enthusiasts — showcase the spectrum of style available to modern consumers. Those looking to make a statement can turn to Studio 65’s lip-shaped Bocca sofa, which was inspired by the work of Salvador Dalí. Elsewhere, the furniture of the 1970s evokes an era when experimentation ruled, or at least provided a reason to break the rules. Just about every area of society felt a sudden urge to be wayward, to push boundaries — and buttons. Vintage leather sofas of that decade are characterized by a rare blending of the showy and organic.

With so many options, it’s important to explore and find the perfect furniture for your space. Paying attention to the lines of the cushions as well as the flow from the backrest into the arms is crucial to identifying a cohesive new piece for your home or office.

Fortunately, with styles from every era — and even round sofas — there’s a luxurious piece for every space. Deck out your living room with an Art Deco lounge or go retro with a nostalgic '80s design. No matter your sitting vision, the right piece is waiting for you in the expansive collection of unique sofas on 1stDibs.