On Divar, Iran’s second-hand marketplace, more than nine thousand of these thrones are listed for sale in Tehran alone. They multiply like unwanted memories, each one posted with the same tired promise: almost new, barely used, must go.
The irony is clear. People may still dream of kings, but they no longer dream of sitting like one. The royal sofa isn’t made for rest. It’s made to be endured. A piece of furniture designed more for show than for comfort and even the show has lost its shine.
What remains is a bulky relic, too large for small apartments, too gaudy for modern taste, and too stiff for everyday life.
The royal sofa is not a comfortable sofa.