Canapé (furniture) Frequently matching chairs were made to go with it. Precious hardwoods such as walnut, cherry, and mahogany were often used in its construction. Currently the term is used in world furniture design and retail as a variation on "sofa", except when antiques or reproductions of 18th century designs are concerned. Canapé (furniture) A canapé is a piece of furniture similar to a couch, and is meant to describe an elegant sofa made out of elaborately carved wood with wooden legs, and upholstered seats, back, and armrests that seats three, that emerged from France in the 18th century. A style created
Paris in the 18th century in population in about 1700, but it was by far the largest city in France, and throughout the 18th century grew at a rapid rate, largely by an immigration from the Paris basin and from the north and east of France. The center of the city became more and more crowded; building lots became smaller and buildings taller, to four, five and even six stories. In 1784, the height of buildings was finally limited to nine "toises", or about eighteen meters. Until the 1789 Revolution, Paris had a strict social hierarchy, whose customs and rules were established by long tradition.