A wonderfully honest late eighteenth-century vernacular three-legged stool, retaining its original thick oak plank seat raised on three naturally grown hedgerow branch legs. Rather than being turned or fashioned from straight-sawn timber, each leg has been selected from naturally curved branchwood, preserving the subtle sweep and taper of the original growth. This use of hedgerow timber gives the stool an individuality and sculptural quality seldom encountered.The original seat has acquired inset iron strengthening plates during its long working life, carefully fitted to repair the seat whilst preserving the original plank. These repairs were undertaken as practical working solutions and today form an important part of the stool’s history, illustrating the value placed upon the object by successive generations of owners.The stool displays a beautifully mellow surface with deep colour and genuine wear accumulated through more than two centuries of use. The rounded edges of the s...