A moment in the sun for the oft-overlooked
household heirloom
By Laura Ferguson
Dame Cabbage Collection
The primitive three-legged stool, which, in modern times, has been relegated to an accent piece–although a charming one–has a far more substantial and storied history than one might imagine. This is of note, given that these stools have largely disappeared from flea markets, and even in antiques stores, their numbers are dwindling. You can still find them in France, simply because the French tend to keep heritage pieces in the family longer. But, still, their availability is limited.
It was during the Shabby Chic era when these hand-hewn stools came to the fore, a time when old furniture that bore the scars of aging and use, became the trend, along with light colors: mostly whites and ivories. At the same time, the three-legged stool, which has been widely used throughout history for milking cows (we’ll get to why a little later), had become obsolete due to advances in dairy farming. Just like old wash tubs that had little use once rural families could afford washing machines, the stools became a staple of flea markets and antique stores, particularly in the South. Most of the stools, it seems, had been white at one time, a color associated with farms, but had developed a gray cast as the years went by. They were perfect for the moment. Homeowners, flush with ideas from magazines, used them as stands for baskets of lavender, small bathroom tables for bath salts and scented candles, and as part of homey, rustic displays, such as mismatched stools against a wall.
While there are now distinct home decor trends, like Modern and Modern Farmhouse, we continue to see strong influences from Transitional and Eclectic styles, where old and new are thoughtfully blended and unified by recurring architectural details, colors, and textiles. A trend that began with Shabby Chic, using old furniture in its naturally aged condition, remains influential, but for the most part, furniture is newer, with cleaner lines and a focus on natural materials. Primitive stools seem to fade amid the excitement of new trends, but they will always be with us, embraced by people drawn to the timeless and warm rustic aesthetic. This holds true not just in America, but in the English Countryside and French Countryside traditions, ways of life that celebrate, and connect us to, more relaxed ways of living: dogs running around, gardens in various states of disarray, smells of a baking pie coming from the kitchen.
It’s hard to believe, but the first primitive stools are believed to have been built during the Stone Age. Early man could make rudimentary tools with wood, bone, and sharpened stone, and as rough as they were, they could manipulate wood, at least to a degree. The larger pieces of wood, probably from fallen trees, went to make frames for their huts. But there were scraps. And maybe you could make something. Early man had to have come up with a lot of different versions of a basic stool, and given the intuitive nature of making one, the stools likely resembled much of what you see today among the online offerings for primitive seating. The description "brutalist" is also used.
Somewhere along the way, early man happened upon the three-legged stool. With three equidistant legs attached at an angle, the stool would remain stable on uneven terrain; as your weight shifted, each leg would find the ground. Anyone who has struggled with a table in a restaurant, resorting to folded matchbooks under one of the legs, knows that four legs require even ground. While today, physics can explain this, early humans were simply focused on what was practical and would work for their immediate needs. The stool also represented an economy of materials. Little did they know that this unassuming invention would become one of the most replicated pieces of furniture in history – and still feature on the landscape 2.5 million years later.
It’s a wonder we know so little about a simple piece of furniture that has proved so enduring. But, understandably, the low-key stool has been overshadowed by the grander and more historically significant furniture of the elite. Wooden three-legged stools, along with rough-hewn benches and tables, were the province of the poor. And most people, from the Ancient Greek and Roman periods to the Modern Era, subsisted on the bare minimum. This was the furniture of the mass of people who have come before. Even today, in underdeveloped countries, you see the three-legged stool, cobbled together with available materials, placed outside a grass hut, where a dweller can take a rest and see what the other villagers are up to. These stools tend to have angled holes cut through the seat, with legs whittled at the top to be slightly narrower than the holes. With the legs protruding, you cut slits across them, then hammer-in wedges, causing the legs to expand and make a tight fit. You could even use branches for the legs, if they were reasonably straight. After that, you cut off the excess. To know that you can still build what you need, like our ancestors did, connects us to something basic and instinctive, especially in a time of mass production.
For many, the three-legged stool is associated with farming due to its common use, through the ages, as a milking stool. The stabilizing aspect proved invaluable when trying to milk a cow on dirt terrain. It was in the 1940s and 1950s that machines started taking over the task, at least in Western countries, and the three-legged stool was no longer needed in the barn, but it made a sweet table for the front porch. As small farms consolidated with larger corporate farms, and the children of farmers left for the cities, farms became barren and neglected homesteads. When their owners died, and children handled the disposition of their belongings, many of the rugged stools, oftentimes hammered together by farmers themselves, ended up in the trucks of what are called “pickers,” people who roam country roads looking for things they might be able to sell, usually at flea markets. The most well-known of these are the two guys from American Pickers on the History Channel, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, the latter of whom left the show a few years ago. They would approach people, introduce themselves, and see if they could take a look at whatever people had collecting dust in their attics or garages. Sometimes they would find something valuable and make the homeowner an offer. Usually it was accepted. Pickers may have obtained rustic stools in this way as well.
Many of the popular items at flea markets, over the past few decades, were the aging detritus of rural life: old watering cans, front-porch rockers, steel tubs. But there will come a time, in the not too distant future, when their already diminishing numbers will become largely exhausted. If you've managed to get some slightly degraded old stools for the front porch of your never-quite-finished Victorian pile, consider yourself lucky– not just because they have value, but because they conjure the spirits of our historical brethren, those who relied on their wits and made do.
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Stool #3 https://www.galerieprovenance.com/stools-side-tables/primitive-tripod-stool?rq=tripod%20stool
Stool #5 https://artemest.com/en-jp/products/tabouret-meribel-by-charlotte-perriand-black-oak#q=7285eeb807ff76f508dc2ce554386a4f
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