Illustrated Furniture Glossary - INDEX ..... Illustrated Architecture Dictionary - INDEX
Cockfighting Chair
Also called "straddle chair."
Illustration: ScheideMantel
House / Roycroft Museum
A reading chair; alternatively called a library chair. The occupant sat astride the chair, back to front so that a book could be placed on the hinged and adjustable board The trays contained pens, inks, and candle holders.
It is sometimes known as "cockfighting" chair in the belief that spectators used it to see the proceedings. So they may have done, but the primary purpose of the chair was for reading. Another name was "horseman's chair," presumably because the occupant appeared to be riding the chair rather than sitting in it.
