A wing chair (also, wing-back chair, wing-back or armchair) is an easy chair or
club chair
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea''
Brands and enterprise ...
with "wings" attached to the back of the chair, typically, but not always, stretching down to the
arm rest. The purpose of the "wings" was to shield the occupant of the chair from drafts and to trap the heat from a
fireplace
A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design.
...
in the area where the person would be sitting. Hence, in the past, these were often used near a fireplace. Currently, most examples of wing chairs are fully
upholstered with exposed wood legs, but many of the oldest examples of wing chairs have an exposed frame with padded
cushions at the seat, armrests, back, and sometimes wings.
They were first introduced in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
during the 1600s, and the basic design has remained unchanged.
They did not become popular until the 1720s.
Though there are many types of wing chairs, there are two standard wing styles - the flat wing and the scroll wing. There are also bat wings and butterfly wings, among other types. The length, depth, vertical position, and shape of the wings may vary from chair to chair.
See also
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Fauteuil
A ''fauteuil'' () is a style of open-armchair with a primarily exposed wooden frame originating in France during the early 17th century. A ''fauteuil'' is made of wood and frequently with carved relief ornament. It is typically upholstered on ...
*
List of chairs
The following is a partial list of chairs with descriptions, with internal or external cross-references about most of the chairs. For other chair-like types (like bench, stool), see .
0–9
* 10 Downing Street Guard Chairs, two antique chairs ...
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Woodcutters
''Woodcutters'' (German title: ''Holzfällen'') is a novel by Thomas Bernhard, originally published in German in 1984. A ''roman à clef'', its subject is the theatre and it forms the second part of a trilogy, between ''The Loser'' (1983) and ' ...
, a
Thomas Bernhard
Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...
novel in which the narrator repeatedly references the fact that they are sitting in a wing chair.
References
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{{Authority control
Chairs
Upholstery