PAIR OF CHINOISERIE GARDEN SILK STOOLS

The garden stool is one of the most traveled forms in decorative history. Propelled into Western interiors by 17th-century trade routes chinoiserie drew on pagoda shapes, bird and flower motifs, and the visual language of Chinese export goods as filtered through a European imagination. The garden stool was its most democratic expression: functional, sculptural, at home indoors and out.

This pair takes the form somewhere unexpected. The dome-topped silhouette is intact, but instead of ceramic, the body is upholstered in a richly toned botanical tapestry — khaki ground, amber and rust florals, pale birds caught mid-branch — the whole pulled down over a solid oak base with scrolled bracket feet. The oak has darkened beautifully with age. The fabric retains its pattern with impressive clarity.

16" x 16" x 17"