A stool of carved and gilt wood upholstered with a valance and a loose cushion of red silk velvet trimmed with silk braids, and with other textiles. The carved beech frame has pierced, tapered legs carved with foliage and lambrequins, joined by scrolling X-form stretchers which meet at a central vase finial. The valance is fitted to an upholstered lip on all four sides, within which the cushion, of boxed construction, sits. The gilding of the frame has been renewed. The cushion has a central rectangular pane of a green-ground silk velvet, with mitred borders of an orange-ground silk textile (almost certainly also velvet), now very degraded (especially the orange borders). This sits within wider borders of a later red velvet, which are also mitred, and the vertical box panels are of the same red velvet. The horizontal seam betwen the top borders and the upright borders is concealed by a wide braid, and the upright and mitred seams were formerly covered by narrow braid, now missing (but which survives in part on the companion stool, W.14-2009). The trimmings on this cushion differ from those on the companion stool, and neither precisely reflects the original arrangement. The underside of the cushion is covered in red silk over a red worsted. The valanced cover has a central panel of two layers of silk (blue-green below, pinkish red above), and red ribbon tied in a bow at each corner. To each ribbon is tied a string or cord, which in turn is tied through two round 'button-holes' in the silk panels and their hemp(?) lining to the base cloth and webbing below. The velvet valances are also lined with hemp(?), and on the innermost face with a glazed red worsted (the hemp(?) thus sandwiched between the velvet and the worsted). The upholstery method -- with a cushion resting in a well over a four-sided valance -- is a very rare survival. Another upholstered stool fitted with a cushion – but a much thinner one – is shown in a Baroque interior of 1721 by Jan Vierpyl (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; see Charles Saumarez Smith, Eighteenth-Century Decoration: Design and the Domestic Interior in England (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1993), p. 87, fig. 66). Even more remarkable is the use of ribbon bows to tie the valance down at the four corners of its platform, since these would never be seen when the cushion was in place -- and the depth of the well is such that the stool could never be used without the cushion. Although we now see this in the stool as restored around 1800, it almost certainly replicates the technique used when the stool was first made around 1700--10, since remnants of a blue ribbon survive at the corners, sewn to the stuffing-cover beneath the valance. No other instance of this usage is known, but a parallel custom is the contemporary (early 18th-century) use of decorative tufting on the seat platforms of sofas, beneath a deep cushion. Examples of the latter usage are a settee of ca. 1700--05 from Hampton Court, Herefordshire, in the V&A (Museum no. W.15-1945), and another ca. 1710 at Lyme Park, Cheshire (see Lucy Wood, The Upholstered Furniture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008), p. 22, figs 30--31, 54). STOOL About 1705 The State Bedroom at Warwick Castle was furnished around 1800 with much older objects, to create an atmostpheric antiquarian interior. This stool is part of a set, matching the high state bed that dominates the room. The suite was given to the Earl of Warwick by George III (reigned 1760-1820) and may have been made for Queen Anne (reigned 1702-14). The covers, dating from about 1800, are close in style to the original upholstery, and are trimmed with the original braid. Britain (London) Gilded beech, with silk velvet covers and silk braid Acquired with support from the art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), the Brigadier Clark Fund, and the London Historic House Museums Trust in memory of Wendy and George Levy. Museum no. W.15-2009. [2011] Stool (upper) 1701 or 1702 Restored about 1800 England (London) Beech, carved and mordant-gilded (renewed) Upholstery: crimson silk velvet (about 1800) with a central panel of figured velvet (original); coloured silk trimming (original) Acquired with support from the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), The Brigadier Clark Fund and the London Historic House Museums Trust in memory of Wendy and George Levy Museum no. W.15-2009 The fragility of textile covers means that upholstery is often replaced, restored or updated in a more fashionable scheme. This stool displays the reworked upholstery covers that were applied in about 1800. The upholsterer was careful to repeat the unusual structure of the original upholstery and to incorporate some of the original figured velvets and trimmings. [01/12/2012] Stool of carved and gilt wood, upholstered with a valance of crimson velvet and a loose cushion of crimson silk velvet paned with two figured silk velvets, trimmed with coloured braids This stool and its pair (Museum no. W.14-2009) form part of an important bedroom suite (with a four-post bed, two armchairs and four other stools), which has been at Warwick Castle since the late 18th century. The suite, originally consisting of a bed, armchair and four stools, was supplied in 1701 or 1702 for William III’s Little Bedchamber at Hampton Court Palace. It was adapted and extended with another armchair and two more stools in 1703 for Queen Anne’s State Bedchamber at Kensington Palace. George III gave the suite to the first Earl of Warwick, and two settees were added at Warwick Castle, probably for the second Earl of Warwick in the late 1770s. The expanded suite was restored and partially reupholstered between c.1790 and c. 1820, most likely shortly before 1802 and again for the second Earl. The stools are upholstered in a way that was unknown before it came to light on these pieces, with a loose valanced cover that is tied down over an upholstered border (or 'lip') by ribbon bows. These decorative bows, positioned in the corners of the central well, are then concealed by the cushion that is placed on top. This remarkable treatment was probably always exceptional, and it may now be a unique survival. This stool displays the reworked upholstery covers that were applied in about 1800. The upholsterer was careful to repeat the unusual structure of the original upholstery and to incorporate some of the original figured velvets and trimmings.