Obsolete furniture

A chair for a deformed woman with very short legs and a very long torso? No. But that is what I would think at first glance, since I come from a time when this sort of shape is always the shape of a chair, and chairs are for sitting in.

Actually it is a "prie-dieu," furniture for the posture of kneeling, with a ledge to put your folded hands upon in prayer.