How much weight can a cabriole stool take?

They bear the weight of an average adult without issue. The mortise and tenon joints combined with the angled leg stance create a solid load-bearing structure. Listen for creaks when you sit. If the frame moves or twists under load, the glue blocks have likely failed and the joints need tightening by a restorer.

My grandmother gave me this low seat with curved legs and I was wondering if it originally came with a matching chair or sofa?

Antique cabriole stools usually started life as part of a larger suite. Eighteenth-century drawing rooms featured matching sets of armchairs, sofas and stools arranged formally against the walls. Families divided these suites over the centuries through inheritance or sale. Finding a complete matching set today is uncommon, so single stools circulate widely as standalone pieces.

What fabric should I use for recovering it?

Traditional wool damask or silk brocade suits the period. These textiles sit well against dark mahogany frames. Keep the profile crisp. Thick modern chenille looks bulky and ruins the line.

Sometimes I see these stools with castors on the feet and sometimes they just sit flat on the floor so which is the correct way?

Both variations exist as original features. Heavy mahogany stools occasionally retain early leather-roller castors, allowing servants to push them across carpets with ease. Many flat-footed antique cabriole stools lost a fraction of their height to wear. Look at the pad or claw foot to see if the bottom carving abruptly stops. Some owners added brass castors later in the nineteenth century to raise the seating height.

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Antique Cabriole Stools from the 19th Century

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An antique cabriole stool is a low, backless seat resting on four outwardly curving legs that taper down to an ornamental foot, originally designed to match seating furniture in early eighteenth-century drawing rooms.