SOFFA, tvåsits, "Confidant", Antoni Gaudi, Spanien, Art Nouveau, 1900-talets första kvartal.

Längd 162, bredd 89, sitthöjd 44,5, rygghöjd 104 cm

Enligt inlämnare specialbeställd soffa till Svenska Amerikalinjen för Kungafamiljen tidigt 1900.

The Confidant, or Double Sofa, was designed by Gaudi, who was known as one of the foremost architects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This chair, intended for Casa Batlló on Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona, Spain, is now housed in the Modern Art collection of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, and at Casa Museu Gaudí.

The Confidant is a prime example of how the designer "aimed at rounded forms to fit the human form, foregoing upholstery and the superfluous ornamentation of the time and stripping the item bare. Gaudí was a forerunner of ergonomic design, breaking with academic repertories and foreshadowing industrial design, the same as contemporary architects such as Victor Horta, Mackintosh and Saarinen.

"The chairs from the Batlló House, propose a type of seating, hitherto unknown, which seeks after the rounded forms that might adjust to the human body. Executed in the Casas i Bardes workshops in ash wood, they have anatomical shapes which seem to be modelled from the imprint the body makes when seated. Similarly, Gaudi forgoes all reference to style in order to leave the shape unadorned, emphasising the grain and textural qualities of the wood and setting aside the upholstery and superfluous ornamentation, frequently based on floral stylisation, that contemporary decorators like Gaspar Homar and Joan Busquets often went in for.