FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Is It Under the Couch
Quiz about Is It Under the Couch

Is It Under the Couch? Trivia Quiz


So, you lost your breadbox. Of course, you have a breadbox, how else do you know something's size? Could it be hiding under the couch? Here is a quiz to help you identify your couch's style, and see if that pesky breadbox is hiding underneath.

A photo quiz by adam36. Estimated time: 5 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Humanities Trivia
  6. »
  7. Design Applied Art

Author
adam36
Time
5 mins
Type
Photo Quiz
Quiz #
368,190
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
953
Last 3 plays: skatersarehott (5/10), Guest 75 (10/10), polly656 (8/10).
-
Question 1 of 10
1. Our first contender is something that looks more like a chair than a soft couch. What primarily French-designed seating style dates from the 17th Century? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Our next possibility is this rather familiar design. Many American-style couches use a variant of this type of sofa. The Lawson-style sofa was created for the Boston home of banker Thomas Lawson. In what century did this more casual style first appear on the market? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Maybe your sofa is this classic French couch called the Recamier. The couch is pictured here in this painting created in 1800, from French artist Jacques-Louis David. The picture hangs in the Louvre Museum and depicts which French woman known for maintaining one of Paris's best salons during the early 19th Century? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Perhaps you are a fan of the 18th Century English furniture maker Thomas Chippendale. Chippendale designed a couch style that has remained popular for over 350 years. What is the animal-inspired name of this couch style?

Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Is your couch made of leather, have arms and back of equal height with buttoning across both arms and back? If so then your couch is a Chesterfield style. Why this style of couch is called "Chesterfield" is the subject of much debate in the furniture world. What is considered the most plausible origin for the Chesterfield name? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Maybe your tastes run towards the modern. What variation on the Chesterfield couch has a "formal" sounding named and originated in New York in the early 20th Century? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Another popular style of couch is the Cabriole. This French style couch is noted for its elegant and rounded shape. Cabriole legs are also a popular style for use as chair or table legs, with an arched and rounded design to resemble the leg of an animal. Both the name for the couch and the table leg style are derived from the French word "cabrioler", which carries what meaning? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The next choice is an ancient couch style that has existed for centuries to describe a type of lounge chair. What is the descriptive name for the classic couch you can recline upon any time of the day or night?

Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Looking for one of the first styles of couches developed in Europe that was not based on the settle or rectangular box method of seating? This style of couch combined finely turned hardwood frames with scrolled backs and arms, and simple padded chair type seats. What is the descriptive name of this couch style? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Our last couch style to review is the ornate Empire style couch that produces large oversized furniture with detailed woodwork and carved images. The Empire style was developed and named in the early 19th Century in honor of what European Emperor? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




View Image Attributions for This Quiz

Most Recent Scores
Mar 27 2024 : skatersarehott: 5/10
Mar 22 2024 : Guest 75: 10/10
Mar 11 2024 : polly656: 8/10
Mar 01 2024 : elisabeth1: 4/10
Feb 23 2024 : Guest 172: 9/10
Feb 22 2024 : Guest 86: 3/10
Feb 17 2024 : ZWOZZE: 7/10
Feb 14 2024 : Guest 98: 8/10
Feb 11 2024 : Guest 86: 8/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Our first contender is something that looks more like a chair than a soft couch. What primarily French-designed seating style dates from the 17th Century?

Answer: Settee

Settees were first produced in France and then England in the late 1600s. The settee is characterized by a high back with padding and padding on the arms. It is believed that the word "settee" and the origin of the furniture derive from an earlier type of seating called a "settle". Settles were wood seating boxes without padding. Settees will typically have either two or three seats and reflect a stylish formality.

So is the breadbox under the settee? Well let's get a few ground rules down first. A simple wood breadbox (available on Amazon.com for $18.95) is 16 inches (40.60 cm) tall. Many settees have a seat height greater than 16 inches and require no skirt or cross-bar that hangs down across the seat frame. So if you have a settee style couch, your breadbox could be underneath.
2. Our next possibility is this rather familiar design. Many American-style couches use a variant of this type of sofa. The Lawson-style sofa was created for the Boston home of banker Thomas Lawson. In what century did this more casual style first appear on the market?

Answer: 20th Century

Thomas Lawson was a banker and author who lived in Boston Massachusetts from 1857-1925. Lawson was a stock speculator who profited greatly from the boom of the 1890s. Lawson built a massive Gilded Age mansion named Dreamworld. Lawson liked his comforts and his sofa was no exception. The couch style that bears his name has thickly padded rolled arms and large loose back cushions.

Yes, yes nice couch. I am sure it is very comfortable but can it hide a breadbox? The answer is probably no; thus, the Lawson is not a good candidate for a hidden breadbox. Despite the bulk of the overall piece of furniture, Lawson sofas usually have low, thick undercarriages and short legs.
3. Maybe your sofa is this classic French couch called the Recamier. The couch is pictured here in this painting created in 1800, from French artist Jacques-Louis David. The picture hangs in the Louvre Museum and depicts which French woman known for maintaining one of Paris's best salons during the early 19th Century?

Answer: Juliette Recamier

The Recamier sofa is named for the Parisian social host and beauty Jeanne-Françoise Julie "Juliette" Adélaïde Récamier. Mme. Recamier hosted artists and social communitarians at her home in Paris during the tumultuous times of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Periods. Mme. Recamier's leanings towards the French liberals led to her exile from Paris by Napoleon I in 1805. In addition to the David portrait in the Louvre, there is an 1805 painting by Baron François Gérard showing Mme. Recamier sitting on the eponymous couch hanging in the Paris Carnavalet Museum.

The Recamier couch is a form of daybed, a chaise longue style sofa that, preferably, has no back and includes two raised ends that are perfect for reclining while wearing the long flowing dress style popular during Mme. Recamier's life. Lounge type couches similar to the Recamier have been used for centuries dating back as far as the 1st Egyptian Dynasty (3100 BC).

The low foot and seat height of the Recamier couch make it a very unlikely style of couch for hiding a breadbasket. Best we keep looking.
4. Perhaps you are a fan of the 18th Century English furniture maker Thomas Chippendale. Chippendale designed a couch style that has remained popular for over 350 years. What is the animal-inspired name of this couch style?

Answer: Camel-back

The camel-back couch makes its first appearance in Thomas Chippendale's renowned English Rococo style book "The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director". The first edition of the "Director" was published in 1754 but did not contain the fully developed version of the camel-back style of couch. Rather the early Chippendale couch had a slight rise in the middle reflecting a more subdued approach to design. As Chippendale refined his style, the couch design became more pronounced and flamboyant.

A camel-back style couch has an elegant sloping back rising high in the middle, with subtly rolled and upholstered arms. These seats are completely upholstered, stuffed and soft. The legs came in a variety of wood leg shapes. While the seat cushions are soft, the back bolster is tightly covered in fabric. Despite the presence of the thick padded seat cushions, the camel-back couch was designed to have visible wooden legs. As such, the normal seat height of a camel-back couch is at least 17", which does provide sufficient room for your breadbox to use as a hiding place.
5. Is your couch made of leather, have arms and back of equal height with buttoning across both arms and back? If so then your couch is a Chesterfield style. Why this style of couch is called "Chesterfield" is the subject of much debate in the furniture world. What is considered the most plausible origin for the Chesterfield name?

Answer: Commissioned by Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

The Chesterfield couch was first produced in the 1700s in England. The couch was historically made from quality bovine leather with equal height in the back and sides. The leather is tufted with deep buttons in a decorative pattern across both the back and arms. Legend suggests that Phillip Stanhope, the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, commissioned the new couch style to permit gentleman to sit upright comfortably and not wrinkle their clothes. Earl Chesterfield was an accomplished gentleman of his day and known for setting trends. The Earl would be happy to know that the Chesterfield style couch remains popular and a classic statement of good taste.

Our erstwhile breadbox, however, would not be so happy to encounter a Chesterfield couch. Chesterfields generally come with shorter thick legs, low seat height and a front panel to support the undercarriage. The open space under the couch is normally limited to no more than a few inches. As timeless and classic as the Chesterfield style is, if this is your couch, there is no breadbox hiding underneath.
6. Maybe your tastes run towards the modern. What variation on the Chesterfield couch has a "formal" sounding named and originated in New York in the early 20th Century?

Answer: Tuxedo style couch

The Tuxedo style couch is thought to have been developed in New York in the early 1920s as a modern update on the Chesterfield style. Tuxedo couches share the Chesterfield symmetry of equal height for sides and back, but differ markedly on cushioning and materials. Where Chesterfields have heavily cushioned backs and arms, the Tuxedo style has no attached cushion on the back and little or no padding on the arms. Tuxedo couches may come in leather, but are often made from other fabrics and without the button tufting on the back that is common on Chesterfields.

The legs on a Tuxedo style sofa are not an essential part of the design and will vary considerably depending on when the sofa was designed and manufactured. The pictured Tuxedo style couch has little undercarriage but shorter legs creating a small open space that is less vertically than 17", which is not ideal for a breadbox to hide under.
7. Another popular style of couch is the Cabriole. This French style couch is noted for its elegant and rounded shape. Cabriole legs are also a popular style for use as chair or table legs, with an arched and rounded design to resemble the leg of an animal. Both the name for the couch and the table leg style are derived from the French word "cabrioler", which carries what meaning?

Answer: Leap like a goat

"Cabrioler" and thence Cabriole derive from the French word for something that jumps like a goat. Both the chair leg design and the couch style first became fashionable in France during the 18th Century reign of Louis XV. Cabriole couches are marked by their elegant flowing arms that curve around to the back of the sofa in a continuous line. A Cabriole sofa often has wood trim along the top and bottom of the piece to emphasize the shape. Frequently the Cabriole couch design will incorporate the Cabriole leg/foot design for as a further accent point.

Cabriole couches have graced Parisian salons and living rooms across the globe for centuries. The seat is set at standard height and can vary from a low of 17" to larger designs that come in at 22". The classic Cabriole couch has a wood trim along the bottom with an open space below the solid wood frame. You can definitely consider this style of couch to be prime breadbox hiding material.
8. The next choice is an ancient couch style that has existed for centuries to describe a type of lounge chair. What is the descriptive name for the classic couch you can recline upon any time of the day or night?

Answer: Daybed

The daybed can be found in use by the Ancient Egyptians and Romans. Romans frequently used their loungers to eat upon as well as entertain. The enduring characteristics of the daybed carry into the modern era as well. The elements of a daybed are quite simple. The design starts with a flat upholstered rectangle along the bottom that meets raised sides accented by upholstered pillows. Classical era daybeds did not have a back, though many modern styles of daybeds do incorporate a back. Daybeds have continued to evolve. Examples of classic daybeds include the Recamier sofa and the Méridienne (fainting couch). The popular "futon" bed and convertible sofa are also functionally varieties of daybeds. These styles of furniture serve as a couch and recliner chair during the day and can convert to a traditional reclining bed at night.

Daybeds vary in undercarriage look and measurement. The classic Victorian daybed had legs that raised the seat at a standard 16"-18" height. If the breadbox squeezed tightly, it might fit under a 19th Century style daybed. Many 20th-21st Century daybeds have a low seat height and convert to a low clearance undercarriage making them an unlikely candidate to hide the breadbox.
9. Looking for one of the first styles of couches developed in Europe that was not based on the settle or rectangular box method of seating? This style of couch combined finely turned hardwood frames with scrolled backs and arms, and simple padded chair type seats. What is the descriptive name of this couch style?

Answer: Chair-back Settee

Chair-back settees were essentially two or three chairs fused together by a common seat and melded middle back section. The chair-back settee style of couch first became popular in 18th Century England because it required fewer pillows and did not take up as much room when compared to the Chesterfield and camel-back sofas of the day. In addition to designing the camel-back sofa style, Thomas Chippendale created many of the iconic couches associated with the chair-back settee style.

This seat height and undercarriage design of the chair-back settee is determined by the dimensions of the relevant chair pattern used in the design. Many chair-back settees display ornate backs and detailed side arms with a lower than average seat height. The style does not favor a skirt as seen in the picture, but the classic Chippendale form does include a crossbar to stabilize the legs. There is room under the Chair-back settee for a determined breadbox to hide, but only if your couch does not have a crossbar.
10. Our last couch style to review is the ornate Empire style couch that produces large oversized furniture with detailed woodwork and carved images. The Empire style was developed and named in the early 19th Century in honor of what European Emperor?

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

Empire style furniture was popular during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of France in the early 19th Century. The development of the style was motivated explicitly by political concerns. Napoleon's court believed that by comparing Napoleon to Augustus Caesar they could influence French thought to accept the empire over the republic without causing unrest. One method employed in this public opinion campaign was to introduce Roman-inspired design elements into French fashion and furniture styles. Later in the 19th Century, Empire style morphed into a more ornate Neoclassical style that became highly popular in the US during the latter part of the 19th Century.

Classic Empire style couches were large, with slightly higher than average seat heights that could be 20" or more. Most examples of Empire sofas do not contain either a skirt or crossbar. The ample room and comparisons to the great French Emperor would make a very attractive lure for your wayward breadbox.
Source: Author adam36

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Related Quizzes
This quiz is part of series Fun with Commissions:

I didn't join a Commission in the Lounge until the 29th version, but I've been hooked ever since. This list contains not only the quizzes I have written for Commissions, but those written using my suggested titles. I had completely forgotten suggesting some of them!

  1. Don't Feed the Animals Average
  2. You Can't Get There From Here Easier
  3. Stop Sign Average
  4. Going Overboard Average
  5. The Further Adventures of Ralph the Llama Average
  6. Bob's Your Uncle Average
  7. Kicking the Habit Average
  8. Toasting the Queen Average
  9. The Final Curtain Tough
  10. Is It Under the Couch? Average
  11. Zoinks! Average
  12. Hazard Warning Average

Also part of quiz list
3/28/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us