discover our V&A collection
Discover the fascinating design stories behind our fabrics and the incredible craftsmanship behind every piece.
Sofa Workshop and the V&A have collaborated to bring you an inspired collection of print stories and furniture styles, drawn from the rich archive of the world’s leading museum of art, design and performance. From opulent velvets for those who love luxurious textures to decorative patterns and bolder styles, there’s a design for everyone to elevate any room.
Left: Watercolour design, Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870–1945), England, 1928. Right: Fragment of chintz hanging or cover, painted cotton, India, 18th century. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
archive inspired
The original purpose of the V&A was to promote excellence in design and manufacturing, so we are delighted to be collaborating with Sofa Workshop who have a real focus on craftsmanship and supporting British industry.
A great deal of consideration and skill has been applied to every piece, from the selection of the archive inspiration for the shapes and the fabrics, to the incredible expertise of the upholsterers in the workshop. The results are really very special.
Lauren Sizeland - Head of Licensing, V&A
Watercolour design, Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870–1945), England, 1928. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Thurloe
Be cocooned by our Thurloe sofa. The subtle, sloping, sink-into-me curves are inspired by the V&A collection of nineteenth-century furniture.
This timeless classic evokes the lavishly upholstered armchairs and settees that would furnish drawing rooms and make ideal seating for the couple reading love poetry to each other.
Shaftesbury
This wonderfully versatile design echoes the square form and higher back of a sophisticated Georgian armchair in the V&A collection.
Combined with modern hand turned legs, the comfy seat features deep diamond button detailing inspired by the beautiful traditional eighteenth-century piece.
Walpole
Our wonderful Walpole sofa is a marriage of understated elegance and superb comfort.
The design borrows stylistically from the V&A’s collection of upholstery. Its elegant, streamlined curving arms and kiln-dried hardwood frame are a modern reworking of a sumptuous and opulent gilded piece from the Georgian era. An everyday masterpiece that will never go out of style.
Thurloe
Be cocooned by our Thurloe sofa. The subtle, sloping, sink-into-me curves are inspired by the V&A collection of nineteenth-century furniture.
This timeless classic evokes the lavishly upholstered armchairs and settees that would furnish drawing rooms and make ideal seating for the couple reading love poetry to each other.
Shaftesbury
This wonderfully versatile design echoes the square form and higher back of a sophisticated Georgian armchair in the V&A collection.
Combined with modern hand turned legs, the comfy seat features deep diamond button detailing inspired by the beautiful traditional eighteenth-century piece.
Walpole
Our wonderful Walpole sofa is a marriage of understated elegance and superb comfort.
The design borrows stylistically from the V&A’s collection of upholstery. Its elegant, streamlined curving arms and kiln-dried hardwood frame are a modern reworking of a sumptuous and opulent gilded piece from the Georgian era. An everyday masterpiece that will never go out of style.
try before you buy
Unlike many other online sofa retailers, we have plenty of shops dotted around the UK, where you can sit down and test our sofas. You’ll also be able to view our full range of fabrics and get advice from our expert design consultants on how to create your ideal sofa. Pop down to your local shop to see us, you won’t be disappointed.
made to measure sofas
If our standard sofa sizes aren’t quite right for you, you might need one of our made-to-measure sofas instead. We offer a 'customisation' service that lets you tailor our handmade sofas to suit your needs. For a small cost, we can adjust a sofa’s length, height, depth and more, to make it truly unique to you. To create your ideal bespoke sofa, get in touch with one of our design consultants or visit us in store.
an exclusive V&A inspired collection
Discover the story behind the making of our latest collaboration.
exclusive fabric collection
At the heart of this exclusive, archive-inspired collection is a passion and commitment to British design and craftsmanship.
From initial archive research through to finished furniture design, our collaboration with the V&A celebrates a wealth of homegrown talent and expertise. Each fabric, printed in Cheshire, has been lovingly recreated from the original subject and the furniture shapes engineered from the ground up in our Long Eaton workshop by true artisans.
Love Bird
Morton's Marble
Coromandel
Cathay Bloom
Bursa
This vibrant oriental pattern featuring exotic birds and bold flowering branches is sourced from the V&A’s vast archive of textiles.
Chinoiserie designs such as this archival print were popular among British consumers during the early 1900s as wallcoverings and soft furnishings.
specification
- ideal for furniture upholstery, accessories and curtains
- 137cm wide
- Martindale 50k
- 100% Polyester Velvet
- non FR or FR professional dry clean
Chinoiserie furnishing fabric, England, early 20th centruy. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Love Birds Saffron
Love Birds Colbolt
Love Birds Cerise
Love Birds Ganache
Chinoiserie furnishing fabric, England, early 20th centruy. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
This elegant design is based on an original drawing for a printed textile by Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870–1945) from the 1920s, commissioned by British manufacturer Morton Sundour Fabrics Ltd
One of the most distinguished of English bookbinders, Cockerell was responsible for binding and conserving some of the world's most precious tomes.
specification
- ideal for furniture upholstery, accessories and curtains
- 137cm wide
- Martindale 100k
- 47% Linen, 40% Cotton, 13% Nylon
- non FR or FR professional dry clean
Morton’s Marble Charcoal
Morton’s Marble Umber
Morton’s Marble Mustard
Morton’s Marble Sage
Morton’s Marble Mist
Original printed textile by Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870–1945), England, 1928. The design is strongly redolent of the decorative marbled endpapers Cockerell used as a master bookbinder. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Original printed textile by Douglas Bennett Cockerell (1870–1945), England, 1928. The design is strongly redolent of the decorative marbled endpapers Cockerell used as a master bookbinder. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Our Coromandel design is adapted from a hand-painted cotton chintz, which dates from the first half of the 18th century, now held in the V&A’s extensive textile collection.
This design is of Indian origin and possibly started life as a palampore, from the Hindi term for a bed cover or an elaborate tent lining, which would have been exported for the European market.
specification
- ideal for furniture upholstery, accessories and curtains
- 137cm wide
- Martindale 100k
- 47% Linen, 40% Cotton, 13% Nylon
- non FR or FR professional dry clean
Fragment of chintz hanging or cover, painted cotton, India, 18th century. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Coromandel Emerald
Coromandel Umber
Coromandel Lapis
Coromandel Rose
Fragment of chintz hanging or cover, painted cotton, India, 18th century. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Inspired by one of the V&A’s finest examples of English 18th century Court dress, with delicate and naturalistic design of trailing flowers.
Cathay Bloom is the perfect evocation of the beautiful Chinoiserie style that drew on the exotic imagery of the East and was reproduced as highly fashionable wallpaper and textiles for the European market.
specification
- ideal for furniture upholstery, accessories and curtains
- 137cm wide
- Martindale 100k
- 47% Linen, 40% Cotton, 13% Nylon
- non FR or FR professional dry clean
Cathay Bloom Natural
Cathay Bloom Smoke
Cathay Bloom Egshell
Detail from a woman’s formal gown, England, 1780-85. Embroidered silk satin, Guangdong, 1760-80. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Detail from a woman’s formal gown, England, 1780-85. Embroidered silk satin, Guangdong, 1760-80. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
ideal for furniture upholstery, accessories and curtains
These Turkish silks were considered among the most prized luxury objects and were traditionally woven in the textile workshops of Bursa, Turkey.
specification
- ideal for furniture upholstery, accessories and curtains
- 137cm wide
- Martindale 100k
- 47% Linen, 40% Cotton, 13% Nylon
- non FR or FR professional dry clean
Bursa Indigo
Birsa Jade
Bursa Antique
Fragment of chintz hanging or cover, painted cotton, India, 18th century. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Fragment of chintz hanging or cover, painted cotton, India, 18th century. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London