18th century Welsh ash back-stool Sold
Names For Things – A Discription of Household Stuff, Furniture and Interiors 1500 – 1700’ by Victory Chinnery. Oblong publishing 2016
Backstool, – chair (backed stoole, bake stoole, bakstowyll, bucked stoole, bucket stoole, stoole-chaire, stoole with a backe). A single-seat chair with an upstanding back, but without arms; also called a back chair or stool-chair. Contrary to some theories of furniture evolution, the back was not literally added to an existing stool, but the backstool was an integral and fully-developed form in its own right from an early date.
At first glance its easy to assume that this low chair or back-stool was possibly made for a child but the proportion and scale suggests to me that it might not have been. I I have owned and seen many antique children’s chairs and they are usually in the simplest sense just miniature versions of full size chairs.
This back-stool however is not just a miniature copy of a full size chair. The relatively tall back in comparison to the squat height of the seat and legs suggests that this was designed and made this way and to account for its unusual proportion we need to think of where it might have been used and in its original setting.
There are relatively few remaining unmodernised Welsh cottages from the 18th and 19th centuries in West Wales and many of those that do survive have had the original down-hearth or inglenook fireplace replaced or ‘modernised’ during the 19th century where they were fitted with a cast iron hob and grate. And who can blame the Victorians for this upgrade; these modern cast iron grates were much more efficient .
The large opening of the down-hearth or inglenook fireplace literally had the fire burning on the floor. The fuel, usually logs or peat, often rested on iron supports known as fire dogs or brand irons. These supports allowed air to circulate under the logs or peat and this draft helped the fuel to burn more effectively. Above the fire, iron cooking pots were hung by chains which might have been attached to an adjustable pot-crane or a wooden or stone mantle. As Martin Davies says in his book Save the Last of the Magic – Traditional Qualities of the West Wales Cottage
– ‘ many people do not realise that these large fireplaces were for cooking in. They were originally used very much like camp-fires under cover’.
This primitive method of heating and cooking had many drawbacks, not least the inadequate chimneys which often allowed the smoke into the room rather than to draw up the chimney this often caused a smoke-line in the room and many chairs, stools and tables were deliberately made low to keep the sitter in some comfort under the smoke.
See Down hearth to Bar Grate by Hugh D Roberts – ‘one of the reasons why early stools were kept relatively low, was that thereby one had a chance of sitting below the level of the smoke’.
The above image of an American hearth and shows a similar back-stool in situ. Title ‘A Puritan Hearthstone’ and published in 1906. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puritan_Hearthstone.png
Stools, chairs and settles were often arranged close to the fire place to benefit from the heat & light, the actual process of cooking – roasting, frying, baking, boiling & grilling were all at a low level and another reason why chairs, stools and backstools had relatively low seats.
As with much primitive and vernacular furniture precise dating is very tricky and its form and construction is almost timeless but I believe this back-stool dates from the late 18th century and it originated from West Wales.
What is immediately obvious when looking at this back-stool is the unusual form and structure. Time, use and its environment has caused the stool to change from its original shape and become lopsided. All four legs touch the floor so there is no wobble (unlike the chair seen in the photograph below). It seems that the seat has twisted slightly and there is notable wear to the top comb so much so that the tips of the back upright sticks are now visible. I wonder if the cook/sitter may have used the back-stool so that the back became the side. This along with its proximity to the heat of the fire and the sometimes damp climate of West Wales might have also contributed to its now very individual form. Whatever the cause it has left us with an object of wonderfully sculptural and uniquely charming character.
Made from ash with traces of original finish.
In excellent solid condition with good colour.
West Wales circa 1780
17¾” wide x 28½” high x 10½” deep / 45cm wide x 72.5cm high x 26.7cm deep
£3450 sold