Writing armchair
Encyclopedia
The writing armchair has an antique and a modern form.
In its antique form it is known as a writing armchair
in the United States
and as a tablet armchair in the United Kingdom
. It is more often than not a Windsor style armchair
with a circular or oval pad or tablet replacing the right arm or mounted above it. Many versions have a drawer built under the pad, to hold writing implements. Other versions have such a drawer under the seat.
On some versions the pad is on a hinge, in order to fold it down and facilitate storage, or simply take up less space in a room. In this case it is often called a drop leaf chair, and becomes a close cousin to the mechanical desk
.
In its modern form it is, most of the time, the most compact rendition of a school desk or a student desk, and it is manufactured in metal and plastic. It is available in a wide variety of sizes to suit the changing needs of growing children. It also differs from the antique form by being relatively ambidextrous: The tablet or pad is available for the right arm or the left arm, to also suit those who write with their left hand. Unlike the antique form, the arm with no pad is usually completely absent, to ease entry in the chair in the crowded conditions of a schoolroom or lecture hall.
Modern designers have offered several contemporary renditions of the writing armchair or the drop leaf chair, but the form has never been very popular in homes.
In its antique form it is known as a writing armchair
Armchair
An armchair is a chair with arm rests.Armchair may also refer to:*Armchair nanotube, a carbon nanotube with chiral symmetry*Armchair, a sitting sex position*Armchair , a bus operator in London...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and as a tablet armchair in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It is more often than not a Windsor style armchair
Windsor chair
A Windsor chair is a chair built with a solid wooden seat into which the chair-back and legs are dowelled, or pushed into drilled holes, in contrast to standard chairs, where the back legs and the uprights of the back are continuous. The seats of Windsor chairs were often carved into a shallow dish...
with a circular or oval pad or tablet replacing the right arm or mounted above it. Many versions have a drawer built under the pad, to hold writing implements. Other versions have such a drawer under the seat.
On some versions the pad is on a hinge, in order to fold it down and facilitate storage, or simply take up less space in a room. In this case it is often called a drop leaf chair, and becomes a close cousin to the mechanical desk
Mechanical desk
A mechanical desk is usually an antique desk type which was produced during the 18th or the 19th century. At one extreme there are desks furnished with a multitude of panels that swing out while stacks of small drawers pop up when a user lowers or extracts the main writing surface or desktop from a...
.
In its modern form it is, most of the time, the most compact rendition of a school desk or a student desk, and it is manufactured in metal and plastic. It is available in a wide variety of sizes to suit the changing needs of growing children. It also differs from the antique form by being relatively ambidextrous: The tablet or pad is available for the right arm or the left arm, to also suit those who write with their left hand. Unlike the antique form, the arm with no pad is usually completely absent, to ease entry in the chair in the crowded conditions of a schoolroom or lecture hall.
Modern designers have offered several contemporary renditions of the writing armchair or the drop leaf chair, but the form has never been very popular in homes.