Ottoman

An Ottoman is a furniture piece comprising an upholstered padded bench seat without any back or arms and was often used as a stool or footstool.
The ottoman came to Europe from Turkey in the late 18th century where it was used as family seating and piled with cushions.

In Europe it was designed as bench seating, wrapped around three walls of a room. It then evolved into a smaller piece that could fit into a room corner. By the 19th century ottomans took on a circular or octagonal shape around a central column that might hold plants or a statue and with arms to divide up the seats.