An absolutely gorgeous 19th century footstool with a lift up upholstered lid covered in crewel work embroidery. I believe this may have been a spittoon footstool, in which case it would have had a bowl in it originally, or it could have been a sewing box inside. It has a line of inlay running around the base and stands on three ceramic feet…Little footstools such as this may not be hugely useful these days, but this one is more useful than most doubling up as a box! It is such a lovely thing - the embroidery on the cover is beautiful and I love the shape of the feet.Condition: The cover is a little faded and has some marks, but all the embroidery is intact. The padding to the lid is firm and I suspect is the original horsehair. The lid doesn’t sit perfectly level on the body - this is more obvious in the photos than it is in the flesh. I think it would have had four feet originally, and there are some marks on the underside that look as though they might be where the feet were...