Ottoman/ABC Wednesday

O is for Ottoman

An ottoman is a piece of furniture with a padded seat, usually having neither a back or arms, and used as a stool or a footstool, or in some cases as a coffee table.  Ottomans have often a coordinating furniture with armchairs.  Some ottomans are hollow and used for storage.

The ottoman above was developed for DVF a couple of years ago.  The patchwork wing chair and matching ottoman below were in a booth of a Manila vendor during the Manila F.A.M.E.

The ottoman was brought to Europe from--you guessed it right, Turkey, in the late 18th century.  In Turkey, the ottoman was the central piece of  domestic seating, and was piled with cushions.  In Europe, one of the early versions of the ottoman was designed a piece of fitted furniture to go entirely around three walls of a room.  The ottoman later evolved into a smaller version to fit a corner of a room.

Ottomans took on a circular  or octagonal shape in the 19th century, with  seating divided in the center by arms or a central padded column that might hold a plant or a statue.  As night clubs become popular, so did the ottoman which began to have hinged seats underneath to hold magazines.

The birdcage-inspired sofa and ottoman set below was designed by a Filipino designer and a friend, Carlo Tanseco, and was exhibited at the Manila Furniture show 3 years ago.

Linking to ABC Wednesday