Descriptionary

caning woven rattan strips used in seats and seat backs.

captain's chair a Windsor chair with a low, curving back, popular in the 19 th century.

Carver chair similar to the Brewster chair but hav­ing fewer ornamental spindles. A straight-backed chair with every element constructed of turned wood except the seat, which was made of planks or rush, a Jacobean design of the 17th century.

chaise longue "long chair." An upholstered chair or sofa having a long extension for supporting the legs, as a recliner. Also spelled chaise lounge.

Chesterfield an overstuffed couch or sofa with upright, rolled arms and no exposed wood elements.

club chair modern name for a wing chair.

couch a sofa.

davenport a large, American-designed sofa, some­times available as a sofa bed.

deck chair a folding, portable chair, used on cruise ships.

director's chair a collapsible canvas and wood chair on two X frames, made famous by movie directors and used for their portability.

divan an armless, backless, upholstered couch that can be used as a bed, originating in France in the mid 1800s.

dos-a-dos a seat or sofa in which sitters are seated back to back.

duchess a style of chaise longue of the 17th cen­tury, consisting of an upholstered chair and matching footstool or two upholstered chairs and matching footstools, each of which could be used separately or pushed together to form one long chaise longue. Also known as a duchesse brisee.

fainting couch see recamier.

fauteuil an upholstered chair with open arms.

fiddleback a chair back design that resembles the outline of a violin, used in Queen Anne-style chairs.

Hitchcock chair originating in the 19th century, a chair having turned front legs, a black finish, and a stencil design on the back.

ladder back a wooden chair with back slats hung like the rungs of a ladder.

lolling chair see Martha Washington chair.

love seat an abbreviated form of sofa, consisting of two seats instead of three or four.

Martha Washington chair a chair with an uphol­stered seat and a high, upholstered back, with bare arms and slender, tapering legs, originating in New

England in the Federal period. Also known as a loll­ing chair.

placet a very low, four-legged stool, with a fabric seat, popular in the 17th century.

platform rocker a rocking chair that "rocks" on mounted springs, popular in the second half of the 1800s and into the early 1900s.

recamier a kind of sofa or chaise longue popular in the 1800s, characterized by a narrow, curving back­rest that stands at an end instead of along the sofa's length, and combined with a curving footboard. Also known as a fainting couch.

recliner an upholstered chair that can be shifted, either with one's body weight or with a lever so that its back drops back in a reclining position and a foot- rest folds out to support the legs.

sectional a couch made up of individual components that can be arranged in different configurations.

slipper chair a low, armless, upholstered chair, used in a bedroom.

settee a wooden bench with arms, usually uphol­stered and capable of seating two or three people. It preceded the sofa in the 17th century.

settle a wooden bench similar to the settee, but without upholstery. It was sometimes built with a storage space underneath a hinged seat.

sofa a long, upholstered seat with upholstered back and arms, originating in the mid-1700s.

swivel chair an office chair with capability to revolve or pivot in any direction.

tablet chair a chair in which one arm has been expanded to form a writing surface, used in schools as a desk.

tete-a-tete an S-shaped seat on which two people can sit and face each other.

Windsor chair originating in 17th-century England, a very popular wooden spindle or splat chair with a saddle seat and sometimes a curving back with bent- wood arms, manufactured in many variations.

wing chair an upholstered chair with a high back and winglike projections on either side, originating in the 17th century.

decorative and construction elements

acanthus leaf wood carving inspired by the lobed, spiny leaves of the acanthus plant, most popular in the 18th century and found on cabriole legs in Queen Anne furniture and others.

acorn a carved or turned ornament resembling an acorn and used as a finial on a chair or bed post.

adaptation that which captures the essence of a style or period without necessarily having exactly the same elements.

amorini decorative carvings of boys, adorning upscale furniture of the 1600s and later.