No. 164.

Fig. 1. Stool in Mr. Salt's Collection, of ebony inlaid with ivory.

2. Shows the inlaid parts of the legs.

3. Of ordinary construction, in the same collection.

No. 164. a.

A stool with leather cushion, in Mr. Salt's Collection.

style and elegance as the chairs, and frequently only differed from them in the absence of a back; those of more delicate workmanship were made of ebony, and inlaid, as I have already stated, with ivory or rare woods; and many, as already observed, folded up, on the principle of our camp stools.* Some of an ordinary kind had solid sides, and were generally very low; and others, with three legs, not unlike those used by the peasants of England, belonged to persons of inferior rank.

The ottomans were simple square sofas, without

backs, raised from the same level as the chairs.

ground nearly to the The upper part was of

leather, or a cotton stuff, richly coloured, like the cushions of the fauteuils; and the base was of wood, painted with various devices, and ornamented with the figures of captives, who were supposed to be degraded by holding so humiliating a position. And the same idea gave them a place on the soles of sandals, on the footstools of a royal throne, and on the walls of the palace at Medeenet Haboo, in Thebes, where their heads support some of the ornamental details of the building.

*

Footstools also constituted part of the furniture of the sitting room; they were made with solid or open sides, covered at the top with leather or interlaced string, and varied in height according to circumstances, some being of the usual size now adopted by us, others of inconsiderable thickness, and rather resembling a small rug. These last, indeed, and some of the low seats above alluded to, might be supposed to represent carpets, which have been mentioned by Homer † and Diodo

* Answering to the Spnvvs and scabellum of the Greeks and Romans. + Hom. Odyss. iv. 124. :

“ Αλκίππη δε ταπητα φερεν μαλακου εριοιο.”