A set of five sofas of carved and gilded mahogany; each with straight back, slightly bowed front and filled in sides. Top rail carved with laurel torus and foliate scrolls. Armrests terminate in lions' heads. Supported on lions' paw feet at front. Four upholstered in crimson silk damask, one in green silk damask.

These sofas form part of a very extensive suite of seat furniture made for George IV's new private apartments at Windsor Castle. Originally consisting of fifty-six pieces (twelve sofas, sixteen armchairs and twenty-eight side chairs), the suite was divided between the Crimson Drawing Room and the Small or White Drawing Room and cost the enormous sum of £13,886 (not including the material for the upholstery). By 1830, a number of pieces from both rooms had been removed to the State Apartments or to store, owing to lack of space. Some of the excess pieces were used to complete the refurnishing of Buckingham Palace in the 1830s and1840s.

The French inspiration for the design of the suite, points clearly to the influence of F.H.G. Jacob-Desmalter. One of the leading furniture-makers of the First Empire, Jacob-Desmalter was invited over from Paris, probably in 1826, to assist Morel in designing furniture for the Windsor project.

The pieces for the Crimson Drawing Room were originally upholstered en suite with the walls and curtains in an expensive poppy-coloured striped velvet supplied by the mercer W.E. King. The velvet was replaced in 1869 with a crimson silk brocatelle of the same pattern which in turn was changed by Queen Mary in the early twentieth century to a bold Italianate design in pink silk. Following the fire of 1992, the upholstery (including curtains and wall-hangings) was changed back to crimson silk in the original striped pattern.

Catalogue entry adapted from Royal Treasures, A Golden Jubilee Celebration, London 2002