What wood are foot stools usually made from?

Walnut and mahogany are almost exactly level as the frame timbers across the archive, with rosewood a clear third and oak behind it. Burr walnut, satin-birch, ebony and giltwood turn up in smaller numbers, generally toward the upper part of the range. "Simulated rosewood" also appears in titles, so a wood named in a heading isn't always the solid timber.

Why are so many sold in pairs?

A large minority of titles on Sellingantiques offer a matched pair, which is a high share for a small furniture form. A few entries go further, to sets of two library stools. Paired examples appear across the upper half of the sampled range.

How old are most of these?

The dated field runs from 1750 to 1930, and Victorian appears in around a third of all titles. The largest single vague label is "19th Century", so a great many are dated only to a hundred-year span. Regency accounts for a smaller group, and the 1860s, 1870s, 1880s and 1890s buckets are Victorian anyway. Twentieth-century entries are substantial, with the 1920s, 1900s and 1930s all well represented, so a fair share of what's offered is Edwardian or later.

Do piano and dressing stools count as foot stools?

Around twenty titles between them are listed under this heading, along with a couple of duet stools made for two players. They are taller than a foot rest, and they sit at the fringe of the category rather than at its centre. The line between a low seat and something to rest the feet on isn't policed.

What is a gout stool for?

It's a foot rest, often adjustable or angled, made to support a painful leg. Twelve titles name one. Gout stools belong to a wider thread of purpose-made forms in this archive: carriage rests, coaching and fireside rests, kneeling rests and a folding travelling stool. These carry some of the highest figures in the range.

Are unusual foot stools ever listed?

They are, though each tends to be a near one-off. The archive holds a velvet bulldog stool of the 1920s, a revolving grotto stool and a turtle foot stool. Origins beyond Britain and France turn up rarely: Anglo-Indian and Ceylonese carved examples, a Burmese stool, a Chinese one, a Canadian piano stool and a pair of Italian carved walnut stools.