Side chair

Although the vertical, expressive form of this chair is derived from northern European late 17th-century designs, the carved shell on the top, or crest rail, of this chair is a fashionable mark of distinction characteristic of mid-18th-century rococo work. The sculptural, flowing lines of the shell, back, and seat are echoed in the sinuously curved, or cabriole, legs at the front, which terminate in simple pad feet.