The sofa was sold by order of the executors of Sir Alfred Owen, the industrialist, in the dispersal of the contents of New Hall, Warmley, Sutton Coldfield, on the premises by Phillips Knowle, October 27th 1982, lot 100. According to the auctioneers, the sofa was said to have been acquired from an antique shop in the 1920s. After the sofa was purchased by the Museum in 1983 the modern red cover was removed and the under upholstery investigated to see if there was any evidence of the original scheme. The original horsehair pads were still attached to the inside back and to the arms. The back pad retained evidence of the original buttoning pattern which was used as a guide for the new buttoning. Although the seat pad, which was never buttoned, had been removed and reattached to the frame, it retained the distinctive curved and stitched edge along the front. Fibres of the original purple silk cover was found on the arm pads and a purple silk damask of appropriate design and date was chosen for the new top cover.