Striped Napoleon III Ottoman

When French drawing rooms filled up with deep, plush seating under Napoleon III, the round pouf arrived to go with it, a soft seat with no back and no arms you could drop down onto anywhere. Found outside Lyon, this one wears the same green-and-cream striped ticking as the crapaud chairs it was made to match, a round cushioned top over a full, pleated skirt that falls to the floor. The pouf was the Second Empire’s most casual seat, pulled up for your feet, offered to an extra guest, or set in the middle of a room where a stiffer chair would never go. Sylvie sets it in front of a chair by the window and puts her feet up, a soft round perch for a long afternoon with a book.

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