This stool and its pair (Museum no. W.14-2009) form part of an important bedroom suite (with a four-post bed, two armchairs and four other stools), which has been at Warwick Castle since the late 18th century.
The suite, originally consisting of a bed, armchair and four stools, was supplied in 1701 or 1702 for William III’s Little Bedchamber at Hampton Court Palace. It was adapted and extended with another armchair and two more stools in 1703 for Queen Anne’s State Bedchamber at Kensington Palace. George III gave the suite to the first Earl of Warwick, and two settees were added at Warwick Castle, probably for the second Earl of Warwick in the late 1770s. The expanded suite was restored and partially reupholstered between c.1790 and c. 1820, most likely shortly before 1802 and again for the second Earl.
The stools are upholstered in a way that was unknown before it came to light on these pieces, with a loose valanced cover that is tied down over an upholstered border (or 'lip') by ribbon bows. These decorative bows, positioned in the corners of the central well, are then concealed by the cushion that is placed on top. This remarkable treatment was probably always exceptional, and it may now be a unique survival. This stool displays the reworked upholstery covers that were applied in about 1800. The upholsterer was careful to repeat the unusual structure of the original upholstery and to incorporate some of the original figured velvets and trimmings.