In the past, everyday people owned little more than a simple table and a bench. Versatile furniture , a chest, storage, an armchair signaling comfort and status ,  it  was the exclusive domain of the nobility and the church.With the industrial revolution of the 18th century, furniture , once reserved for the nobility and the church, became first a symbol of opulence for the emerging merchant class. The 20th century chose to democratize quality and aesthetics for the first time, in connection with the political desire of the Enlightenment, bringing leisure pieces within reach of the middle and working class.