The style of this footstool reflects details of furniture design in Paris in the 1780s, but Parisian chairs and stools at that date were never made of veneered luxury woods, as these are. Veneering with tropical hardwoods was the work of cabinet-makers, known as ébénistes (from the word ‘ebony’), whereas joinery or chair-making was the work of menuisiers, who made carved furniture that was polished or painted or gilded. John Jones, the original owner of this stool and its pair (1031-1882), was a military outfitter, who lived in London and used his wealth to form an extensive collection of French 18th-century decorative art. In 1882 he left the collection to the South Kensington Museum, the forerunner of the V&A. Jones was taken in by some 19th-century fakes, but it is unlikely that he was taken in by these. More probably, he saw these as useful reproduction pieces that would help to furnish his house in Piccadilly. He had a further pair which were covered in Aubusson tapestry.