Fainting Couch help

My grandmother bought this piece of furniture 45 years ago from an antique dealer in Atlanta. She said it was part of a bedroom group that was originally in Franz Joseph’s castle in Austria. She said it was a 10 piece bedroom set that they were asking $50,000. She said she finally talked the dealer into selling her just this piece after a year of wearing him down. She said there was a picture of it in the castle but that stayed with the rest of the bedroom furniture. She gave the piece to a family member who has basically destroyed it. I am thinking of trying to have it restored but I figure that is going to be pretty costly. It appears at some point before she purchased it has been reupholstered due to the flour sack under it.Could anyone help try to identify this piece? How would I be able to trace back something like this to see if I’m fact this story is true? How costly would it be to have this restored and would it be worth it? So sad to see the condition of this now, I remember being a kid and going to her house and I was always mesmerized by this thing and the story.

 

Can't help with provenance but... The flour sacking dates from 1928 to 1959.

Debora

 

Yea if the story is true that’s why I figured it’s not the original upholstery. I live in more of a rural area so we don’t have a lot of people who specialize in antiques. I’ve tried doing some google research but I haven’t found much. Thank you though

 

I don't see why upholstering should be much more than any fine reupholstering job...but you have some wood issues to deal with first, in a couple of places!! Take lots of pictures, show any damage you find, and take them to several upholsterers for estimates....THAT part can't hurt!!! You could wind up with a lovely piece, eventually!!!

 

I don’t know much about restoring furniture like this, I just figured with a lot of the springs that are broken and the padding inside would need to be replaced it would be a pretty pricey. When I was a child this was so beautiful. I really would like to bring it back to life. I hate to see it wasting away

 

Are there legs missing under the arms ? Try using Bergere for a search term. Maybe you can loosen a corner of the feed sack and take pics of the joinery , it would help dating it . Knee jerk is its 1900-20s just because so much is.

 

JMHO.
I'd rather go in the direction of a méridienne style Napoleon III or some sort of chaiselongue. or a recamiere.
a Bergère is a chair only without additional place for the legs, but also cozy enough to take a nap.
JMHO II.
I don't think it was seeing Schönbrunn or the Hofburg or even Laxenburg or one of the many castles in Hungary.

 

I had never heard the term fainting couch for a chaise longue before, I thought someone needed smelling salts for their couch.
I suppose old couches can get dizzy spells.

We generally call it a récamier, after Juliette Récamier, a famous French beauty who was portrayed on a chaise longue by several painters. The most famous one was Jacques-Louis David, in 1800:

 

That is always what she called it. Honestly I don’t know much about antique furniture. Maybe it is a chaise?


History
Many have speculated about the origin of the term fainting couch. One myth is that this form of seating design gained popularity during the Victorian era. During this time, Victorian women, who often fainted from wearing tight corsets, would rely on this particular style of sofa to recover. The sofas were staples in what were supposedly called fainting rooms at the time.

 

I don’t see anywhere under it where any legs are missing. But I did not remove the flour sack either.

 

Not that I can see but I didn’t remove the flour sack under it.

 

At auction we would call this 20th c Louis XVI style recamier

 

Thank you. There is no arguing with popular myth.

It is older than the Victorian period though. It is based on the Roman habit of reclining when seated. It became popular during the Classic Revival period, because so many things from classic antiquity were 'revived', albeit in a modified fashion.
As you can see from Juliette Recamiér's dress, ladies didn't wear tight corsets at the time.



Here she is with a book in her hands in her library, not a fainting room:

 

Always so skeptical of provenance stories but something not dissimilar can be found in the Porcelain Room at Schönbrunn Palace.

Debora

 

WOWZA! That room is extraordinary!!!

 

Good catch. No fainting required.

 

We can all breathe freely.