You will find these gilded stools all over England. There are a
number at Hampton Court Palace. At Hardwick there are both long and
short stools, carved with the dolphin's scroll and covered with
elaborate stuffs. The older the English house, the more stools are in
evidence. In the early Sixteenth Century joint stools were used in every
room. In the bedrooms they served the purposes of small tables and
chairs as well. There are ever so many fine old walnut stools and the
lower stools used for bed-steps to be bought in London shops that make a
specialty of old English furniture, and reproductions of them may be
bought in the better American shops. I often wonder why we do not see
more bedside stools. They are so convenient, even though the bed be only
moderately high from the floor. Many of mine are only six inches high,
about the height of a fat floor cushion.
[Illustration: A CREAM-COLORED PORCELAIN STOVE IN A NEW YORK HOUSE]
Which reminds me: the floor cushion, made of the same velvet made for
carpeting, is a modern luxury we can't afford to ignore. Lately I have
seen such beautiful ones, about three feet long and one foot wide,
covered with tapestry, with great gold tassels at the corners. The
possibilities of the floor cushion idea are limitless. They take the
place of the usual footstool in front of the boudoir easy chair, or
beside the day bed or _chaise-longue_, or beside the large bed, for that
matter.
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