Stool

Object Type
Stools were perhaps the most common form of seating and were found in large numbers in any house. Sometimes they were upholstered en suite with the bed, chairs and curtains of a bedchamber. They were, however, reserved for people lower down the hierarchy than those entitled to a chair. Randle Holme's Academy of Armory (1688) contains a table of everyday objects. They include a 'joynt stoole', made up of a wooden seat set on four legs; an ordinary stool covered with upholstery, so more expensive; and a 'turned stoole', consisting of a triangular wooden seat placed just below the tops of three rounded or turned legs.

Materials & Making
The legs of this stool are turned and decorated with grooves, made by a gouge or scraper. They are linked to each other by stretchers, whose tenons (pared-down protrusions) slot into mortises (squared holes). The rails immediately beneath the seat are slotted into a groove on the inside of the leg and held in position by dowels or wooden pegs. The seat is fixed to the frame by means of dowels.

Time
These stools were often used with the 'drawer' table that became popular around 1600. This kind of table had leaves that could be 'drawn' or pulled out so as to expand to the required length. With such a table, a variable number of stools could be used, whereas the bench or form was of a fixed length.