Fainting Couch

MediumOak, black leather

Dimensions30 × 79 × 27 in. (76.2 × 200.7 × 68.6 cm)

ClassificationsFurniture

Credit LineGift of Warren Israel. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object number85.1.1

Status

On view

Collections

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: The chaise lounge, commonly referred to as a fainting couch, was a ﬁxture in the Victorian household. This elegant yet functional piece of furniture was designed to accommodate the needs of women who wore restrictive corsets. Reinforced with whale bone or metal and laced tightly, corsets dramatically reduced a woman’s waist size. While this fashion was considered desirable, it often led to numerous health complications, including difficulty breathing, dizziness, and frequent fainting spells. The chaise lounge provided a convenient and graceful solution—allowing women to recline and recover when they felt lightheaded. A woman could delicately ease herself onto the couch, maintaining an air of poise and decorum. Beyond its association with fainting, this style of chaise lounge was also used for relaxation and brief daytime naps. These couches blended aesthetic appeal with practical use, offering a comfortable resting spot for those who wished to lounge during the day. In traditional, multi-story homes, Victorians placed fainting couches strategically for easy access, often at the top of staircases or in the private quarters of women. In the Farm House Museum, however, the fainting couch is positioned in the Curtiss Library on the main ﬂoor. This placement is intentional, designed to recreate a 1910 interior photograph of the library, the only known surviving image capturing the Curtiss family’s home during their residency. It is possible that Charles Curtiss used the couch for a more leisurely purpose— he may have found it to be a comfortable spot for reading and relaxing.

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