The superfluity of such furnishings is, however, a clue to their extraordinary value. For even more than canterburys and tripod tables and, until they became unfashionable, davenports, stools are purchased by people who have everything but, perhaps, that finishing touch – the chic little afterthought that makes a room more than perfect. Those are the sort of people not likely to be short of a bob or two, and, thinks auctioneer Robert Bleasdale, are likely to come from the other side of the pond. “They are probably destined for the American market,” he said, after seeing this pair sell at £7000 where he had expected only £1000-1500, “and for the sort of audience where the ‘look’, matters more than the age.”
For the home decorator with everything
UK: “I HAVE never understood why stools make so much money,” said one dealer after the seeing this late 19th century Chippendale-style pair, left, go under the hammer at Phillips Knowle sale. “They never seem to be used for anything but piling up newspapers in sitting rooms.”
