stool
Object
Accession Number
2014.021Description
This is a mahogany-framed four-legged stool, the concave top's edges framed in mahogany and bordering a leather covering stitched into place and with canvas support beneath, the overall design of the stool of Egyptian inspiration.Narrative
This fine mahogany and leather Thebes stool was made for Liberty & Co. of London and was acquired by The Castle Society for display in Craigdarroch’s smoking room. As was the custom in Victorian-era smoking rooms, Craigdarroch's smoking room is decorated with exotic furnishings. At the time this stool was acquired, Craigdarroch's smoking room furnishing including two over-stuffed Turkish leather chairs, an Anglo-Japanese ceramic humidor, Chinese prayer beads, a fine Japanese Satsuma vase, a small 19th Century Indonesian sword donated by a Dunsmuir descendant, and three fire tools decorated with brass handles inspired by Islamic design.The stool bears the original Liberty & Co. of London label. It is very similar, but in superior condition to, an oak example in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection (CIRC.439). The V & A’s collection record explains: “This stool was made for Liberty & Co., probably by the firm of William Birch or by B. North & Sons, both of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and designed by Leonard Wyburd, the director of Liberty's Furnishing and Decoration Studio, established in 1883. Liberty's patented the design of the Thebes stool in 1884, and it continued to be sold until about 1919. Egyptian-influenced furniture had also been made in the 1850s by Morris, Faulkner & Co. between 1857 and 1858, and designed during the 1870s by Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) and E.W.Godwin (1833-1886)”.
It is not known whether new Thebes stools were available for purchase in Victoria during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also not known whether the Dunsmuir family owned a Thebes stool at Craigdarroch or anywhere else. But Joan and Robert Dunsmuir travelled to the UK and the Continent, and they owned Swiss carvings, and German, Dutch, and English paintings – perhaps they acquired a Thebes stool on one or more of these trips. The presence of this stool in Craigdarroch’s Smoking Room enhances the quality of presentation to visitors.
