Settees, a cousin of the sofa during the Colonial period, are generally fully upholstered, leaving only the feet exposed—often carved and terminating in a cabriole pad foot or a claw-and-ball. The classical settee/sofa marks a transition in style, emphasizing fine woodwork in almost all its aspects. For example, we see this in the development of the crest rail running across the top, the arm supports, the seat rail, and the feet.
This discourse is about one of the most beautiful and rare classical caned settees attributed to Duncan Phyfe. The three-part caned sofa in our collection belongs to a rare group, one example of which came up at Bonhams Auction in January 2009. It is one of only two known examples with double lyre armrest supports. Of these two, the one at auction had a fully carved crest rail; the other example with lyres is blank, without carving. This makes the auctioned piece singular within the entire group, being the most highly developed.
Of this small grouping—excluding the lyre versions—two have appeared on the market: one at Christie’s “Auction of Important American Furniture” in June 1997, and another at Christie’s “Important Americana” in January 1994. Other examples can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Winterthur in Delaware, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. These, however, may or may not be on display, as only a small portion of their collections are exhibited at any given time.
Our example is on open display at our study center of American classical furniture. Also of note is the seminal publication Duncan Phyfe and the English Regency by Nancy McClelland—specifically plate 169, among others.
Our example was illustrated over 100 years ago in Colonial Furniture in America, Vol. II, p.163, by Luke Vincent Lockwood (1913). Needless to say, I was blown away by the possibility of acquiring it at auction—it was definitely a “must-have,” as I have long focused on the lyre motif in my collection of American classical furniture.
To this end, I communicated with Peter M. Kenny, Curator of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, regarding its authenticity and any information he could lend. He gave me the green light and was most helpful.
I still remember the day of the auction. Peter was sitting with Stuart Feld, head of the Hirschl & Adler Galleries. Stuart was a keen collector in this area, albeit they primarily dealt in American paintings. The auction estimate was quite high; however, Stuart did not compete against me—thank goodness—as he knew of my interest in this lyre piece. Nevertheless, there was competition, and I was fortunate to acquire it within its auction estimate. Certainly, others may not have been as drawn to the lyre embellishment as I was. Its goat feet—very rarely seen—may not have been as desirable as the more traditional paw foot. But who knows? Luck favored me.
The beauty, rarity, and meaningfulness of its classical expression evoked a collector’s passion in me to own the very best examples.
Some details:
The crest rail of the settee is divided into three panels. Two of the three depict faces—Greek symbols (quivers bound around a battle axe), which symbolize officialdom and are often seen in coinage. These flank a central panel composed of two intertwined cornucopia.
The tops of the arm supports are also carved with cornucopia, each supported by two wire-strung lyres. The base of the sofa is fully reeded and supported on acanthus-carved goat legs with hoofed feet.
When one compares the traditional Colonial sofa/settee—with its fully upholstered body that reveals wood only in the legs—we clearly see the transition to the classical style, celebrating the beauty of carved wood as a touchstone of this period, steeped in ancient Egyptian and Greek symbolism.
Length: 82 in. Height: 35 in. Width: 23 in.
Revised Feb 14, 2026, 10:56 AM