Young Blonde Girl Behind Curtains Undresses A Violet Dress Shirt On The Armchair With Ottoman

Ottomans took on a circular or octagonal shape through the 19th century, with seating divided in the center by arms or a central, padded column that might hold a plant or statue. As night clubs became more popular, so did the ottoman which began to have hinged seats underneath to hold magazines.
In literature
Nobel Prize winner George Bernard Shaw referred to an ottoman in this passage from his novel Pygmalion; "In the middle of the room there is a big ottoman; and this, with the carpet, the Morris wall-papers, and the Morris chintz window curtains and brocade covers of the ottoman and its cushions, supply all the ornament, and are much too handsome to be hidden by odds and ends of useless things."