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A sgabello is an Italian term for a specific type of movable back stool typical of the Italian Renaissance. An armchair with armrests usually signified as a chair (sedia) of more hieratic significance. Sgabelli was typically made of walnut and included a variety of carvings and turned elements. The legs could either be two decorated boards with a stretcher for support, or three separate impost legs that would also be ornamented and carved. This seat would often be placed in hallways and was often carved with a family's imprese or emblem drawn from its coat-of-arms. Its primary purpose was not for lounging comfort, therefore the seat was not very comfortable.
Similar chairs were made in France, where they were also known as a side chair. These had solid supports called rhombus seat supports. They were not used as stools.