Just some more info I'm finding interesting... reading through "The Early F= urniture of French Canada". This info is relative to other than just Canad= ian furniture.
"Console legs" - When I read this, I asked, Now, what the heck is this. Br= acketed legs.
Further reading about the armchair design: "The 'habitants', having seen t= his type of chair in the Seigneur's manor, quickly imitated it for use in t= heir homes. A great variety of specimens exist, some roughly made and some= the work of craftmen. At first, they were made with bracket posts, the tw= o front legs rising to a certain height, then curving back in a continuous = line to form the armrests of the chair. In the early eighteenth century, = the armrest were supported by brackets (supports d'accoudoir en console) se= t back a little from the front of the chair, to allow the ladies, whose ski= rts had taken on more ample proportions, to seat themselves elegantly witho= ut feeling confined. ...."
I had never realized the origin of the setting back of armrests/armrest pos= ts, from the front of the chair, was to accommodate the ladies, that way.
Sonny