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1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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Otto Wilhelm Hermann von Abich

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a form of couch which usually has a head but no back, though sometimes it has neither. It may have square or semicircular ends, and as a rule it is what upholsterers call "stuffed over" - that is to say no wood is visible. It belongs to the same order of ideas as the divan; its name indeed betokens its Oriental origin. It was one of the luxurious appointments which Europe imported from the East in the 18th century; the first mention that has been found of it is in France in 1729. In the course of a generation it made its way into every boudoir, but it appears originally to have been much larger than at present. The word is also applied to a small foot-stool covered with carpet, embroidery or beadwork.