BH | Studio Bampton Tufted Velvet Dining Chairs, Set of 2

The wing chair was born in late seventeenth-century England, its side wings set to hold the fire's warmth and keep drafts off the sitter. Victorian upholsterers added deep buttoning, stitched buttons that anchor the padding in a quilted pattern, and when both ideas came to the dining table they gave it a chair with real presence.

Each chair has a tall, curving back with wings at the shoulders, deep-buttoned on the inside and smooth on the outside. The seat is built for comfort: dense foam over sinuous springs, S-shaped steel springs that run across the frame and give a little as you sit. The cover is a performance velvet that resists stains, so a splash of wine or a sticky hand lifts off with a damp cloth, and the cloth keeps velvet's rich sheen. A solid hardwood frame stands on dark legs with non-marking glides.

Velvet catches candlelight beautifully, so these suit a dining room used mostly after dark, with a polished table, brass candlesticks and a dark green wall. Set them at the ends of a table as host chairs, flank a fireplace or a console in the hall, or use one at a dressing table and the other at a desk. They bring a little drama to a modern apartment with white walls and pale floors. This listing is for a set of two chairs.