I spend a lot of my time surrounded by cushions - most of us do - but how much do we really know about them?
The first of my 'Did You Know?' posts is a little snapshot of the history of the cushion - let's get to know them a bit better (with thanks to
Wikipedia).
A cushion is a soft bag of some ornamental material, stuffed with wool, hair, feathers, polyester staple fiber, non-woven material, or even paper torn into fragments. It may be used for sitting or kneeling upon, or to soften the hardness or angularity of a chair or couch.[1]
Cushions and
rugs can be used temporarily outside to soften a hard
ground. They can be placed on sun loungers and used to prevent annoyances from moist
grass and biting
insects. Some dialects of English use this word to refer to
throw pillows as well.
The cushion is a very ancient article of
furniture; the inventories of the contents of
palaces and great houses in the early
Middle Ages constantly made mention of them. Cushions were then often of great size, covered with
leather, and firm enough to serve as a seat, but the steady tendency of all furniture has been to grow smaller with time.
Cushions were, indeed, used as seats at all events in
France and
Spain at a very much later period, and in
Saint-Simon's time we find that in the Spanish court they were still regarded as a peculiarly honourable substitute for a chair. In France, the right to kneel upon a cushion in church behind the king was jealously guarded and strictly regulated, as we learn again from Saint-Simon. This type of cushion was called a
carreau, or square. When seats were rude and hard, cushions may have been a necessity; they are now one of the minor luxuries of life.
Decorative cushions are likely to have a fancy cover material which are
patterned style and generally used to decorate furniture.
So there you go! You are now a little bit wiser about an ordinary household object that most of us can't live without - the cushion :0)
