A Gainsborough chair (also known as a Martha Washington chair in the United States)Definition of Martha Washington chair, Merriam-Webster. is a type of armchair made in England during the eighteenth century. The chair was wide, with a high back, open sides and short arms, and was normally upholstered in leather.Gainsborough chair, Encyclopædia Britannica.
Contemporaries referred to it as a 'French chair', as the most elaborate styles were based on French Rococo chairs from the Louis XV period.
References