Caquetoire

[2] Older dictionaries relate the 'caquetoire' to relaxed social situations, "où on caquette à son aise", - a fireside seat where one may chat at ease.

[4] A recognised feature of a caquetoire chair is a splayed seat and outward curving arms so women wearing their large skirts or farthingales could sit comfortably.

Due to fashions of the time and the lack of heating systems in homes, women wore several layers of skirts and petticoats to keep warm.

The form of an arm chair with a splayed trapezoidal seat became popular in Scotland and several oak examples from the 16th and 17th centuries survive.

[6] Later writers on furniture history called the Scottish chair a "caqueteuse", a French word for a gossiping woman.