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Bequeathed by Mrs T.R.P. Hole, together with a large collection of furniture, ceramics, metalwork, prints and other items, largely left to her by the 8th Earl of Abingdon and 13th Earl of Lindsay, whose wife had inherited them as descendant of Lord Stuart de Rothesay (1779-1845), who had formed an important collection of French decorative arts in the 1820s and 1830s, after he had served twice as British ambassador to France. For full details of the bequest see the Handbook, 1996, listed under references below. The stools were part of a suite of furniture supplied c. 1805 by the Parisian firm of Jacob-Desmalter to Marechal Ney (1769-1815) for the Hôtel de Saisseval, Paris. In the inventory taken after the execution of Marechal Ney, started on 27 December 1815, the contents of a room 'servante Petiti Salon' [serving as a small drawing-room) at the Hôtel included a suite of seat furniture 'acajou, satin bleu brochéé, figures égyptiennes en bois et cuivre d'oré' [ in mahogany, blue brocaded satin, egyptian figures in wood and gilt-bronze]. The whole suite was valued at 900 francs. It consisted of '2 large bergères [armchairs with upholstered sides], 2 smaller bergères, 2 other bergères, 2 fauteuils [open-sided armchairs], 4 chaises [chairs], 2 tabourets en X [X-framed stools] and 1 tabouret de pied [footstool]'. When the Hôtel was rented by the Comte de Peralda from February 1816 to April 1817, the same room is described as having a suite of seat furniture in mahogany with gilt-bronze mounts, upholstered in 'étoffe de soie fond bleu et chamois' [silk fabric with a blue ground and buff colour]. Although the number of pieces in the suite differs slightly from the inventory taken after the death of Ney, it is probably the same suite. There is no traceable public sale of these pieces after the end of Peralda's tenancy but Lord Stuart de Rothesay may have bought pieces directly from Ney's widow (he was opposed to the execution but, as ambassador, was unable to take action). Other pieces from the suite were also acquired, in addition to the stools and some are now in the Museum's collection (W.2A to C-1987, W.10Ato B-1987) together with the cabinet W.21-1987 that probably came from the same room. One of the stools was illustrated in the series of Country Life articles on 'Highcliffe Castle' by Christopher Hussey, vol. XCI (1942), pp. 806-9, 854-7, 902-5. Lord Stuart de Rothesay had built the castle in the 1830s and it descended in the family to Lady Abingdon. The stools are a version of those supplied for the Consulate at the Tuileries in about 1800 by Jacob Frères. The form was often repeated for the Imperial palaces (for which the firm of Jacob was a major supplier). In 1811 similar stools were supplied for Malmaison. Originally, the upholstery would have been much more hard-edged but this has been lost in subsequently re-upholsteries. The design appears to derive from published designs by Percier and Fontaine (1801 and 1812), plate 39, no. 5.