The restrained elegance of form and ornament of this couch is typical of Boston Empire or neoclassical design influenced by the Greco-Roman world and of similar designs popular in Europe in the prior decades. New York, Boston, and Philadelphia were among those American cities where such designs rapidly became fashionable. Advertisements for “Grecian couches” appeared frequently in Boston newspapers; this couch, one of a pair, is from a large set of furniture originally purchased for the Appleton House at 39 Beacon Street in Boston.