Ward's improved recumbent chair, by John Ward, 246 Tottenham Court Road, London, England, 1880-1900.

This is a Ward’s recumbent chair for invalids. Recumbent means it can move into a reclining position. It was found in a storeroom at the headquarters of the British Red Cross in Oxford. It was made by designer John Ward. He was based in London’s Leicester Square in the late 1800s. He had exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. His voluminous recumbent chairs were described there as “spring stuffed and covered with Utrecht velvet”. They could be used as armchairs or converted into daybeds for invalids or recovering patients.