A Little Footstool with a Past

[talesofthesevenseas]

I picked up this little cabriole legged cutie on Craigslist for $10 today. Can anyone estimate the age? It appears to have been through several modifications. It will be another project piece, I was instantly charmed by the way it crouches, and looks like something that would come to life and dance in a Disney cartoon. I think there is a neat little footstool under that Peptobismol pink paint! It is very tiny, only 6"H x 10" square. There are several sets of writing inside it:



The upholstery is modern, the stuffing is polyester fiberfill.







This one says "J HILDER 74 NOV" I am guessing that November of 1974 was the date of the most recent reupholstery and painting.



Underside view. The plastic sliders are a later addition.





There is very faint writing here, it says something on the left like "Paid" or "Fixed" and on the right "Mrs. Miller". The first image below was taken with a flash, the last image was enhanced in Photoshop to bring out the writing.

[bigwull]

when they are this small, they are also known as a Gout stool,.and i can see where you are coming from...with the legs..i could imagine one of these above those legs.... age wise, i,d put it at around late 18 century...early 19...

[ghopper1924]

Can't wait to see the "after" photos!!

[bigwull]

Can't wait to see the "after" photos!!

be patient Man....

[talesofthesevenseas]

Wow, 18thc early 19th? I had no clue it might be that old! I had only seen the slanted gout stools before. This does look like it was intended for a single foot. I took a good look at it in the light this morning, looking for saw marks. There are no signs of a circular saw and while the legs look pretty uniform, I can see a slight variation in the curves of the spans between the legs. I can't see any signs of hand tool marks, probably because of the layers of paint. There is a funny mark on the spans between the legs, but this appear to be on some kind of extremely thin wallpaper stuff or in the paint. In just the right light I do see vertical straight saw marks, that go against the grain of the wood. This is cool, I didn't expect this.

Here's a pic of the wallpapery stuff and the marks in it, It is at a crooked angle to the piece and is over the top of the straight saw marks in the wood. Is this some sort of papery liner that would have been on a roll pulled through some kind of machine? It is only on the underside, its so thin it's almost like paint. I've never seen this stuff before.

I will try to get a pic of the straight saw marks.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Here's a pic of the straight saw marks. You can just barely see them running vertically in this pic:

[bigwull]

Gout was a common affliction,to the Landed Gentry...during Victorian times....as they lived off the fat of the land,and the backs of their tenants....

[talesofthesevenseas]

Looking closely at it, I can see a few places where the pink paint has chipped off and under the pink paint is my arch nemesis, lead-based paint in faded green.    I swore after spending weeks on the china hutch that I would never take on a lead-based paint removal again, but here I am again. The problem is that even the best stripper won't get the lead-based stuff off. It gets down into the grain and sanding is the only way to completely remove the dreaded stuff. I hate to take sandpaper to something this old. Now that I know what it is I looked at a few on Ebay and it looks like the stool is worth about $100 or a little less. (not bad for a $10 investment!) I'm rethinking the project and the best solution might be to paint the paint for now until technology improves and there is a better method to remove lead-based paint. Any suggestions on how to proceed gang?

[fancypants]

Cool little item , talesof !

Looks quite sturdy & solid .

Footstools of this size/type were also used by women during hand sewing/embroidery activities , so as to elevate one knee slightly to ease fatigue a bit .... early-day ergo device , if you will ...

Perhaps you might consider , as you'd mentioned , encapsulating the old finish with a base primer/paint & then do some neat faux-woodgrain finishing ?
I've found that small items with such 'issues' are prime subjects for such work & often come out way nice .

There sure are a slug o' items that have been painted with the lead-containing/based paints ("Lead War" , a recent book , details much of the American history & culprits of the paint biz ... including some old images of children [in adverts] painting toys with Dutch Boy paints) !

[talesofthesevenseas]

Yes, it's very solid. (The bulldog photo Bigwull posted early is a good comparison!) My use for it is that it is just right to make a step up into my Chinese wedding bed. Mostly this is for my twenty-two-year-old cat, but I use it too. I was thinking I could imitate the old red Chinese laquer on the bed and leave the gold as it is and reupholster the top in the same subtle gold fabric as what is on the bed.

[ghopper1924]

OK I hate to play the heretic,  but for lead -based paint is a vat stripper an option? I know that it's harsh and is not a first choice, but I've seen commercial vat refinishers work miracles on seemingly hopeless cases.

[bigwull]

my suggestion would be...either get it sandblasted,...or strip off the fabric, and give it a caustic bath....and remember to remove the little plastic floor protectors...before hand.

[talesofthesevenseas]

I've never done a "dip" bath. Is that a do-it-yourself kind of thing or something I would take to a pro to do?

[talesofthesevenseas]

I found this recommendation (see page 3) of a product called RemovAll 310 for architectural porous surfaces. It's non-toxic, no masks, no goggles or anything else needed. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,386353,00.html

[ghopper1924]

Try that first. If it doesn't work, take it to a vat stripper. These are usually professional furniture refinishers.