Stool

This elegant stool was part of a luxurious dressing-table set. Although made in London, it shows the influence of Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, a leading French cabinetmaker of the 1920s. Its restrained simple form and the use of materials such as ebony veneer and silk upholstery are characteristic of Art Deco furniture of the 1920s. It was probably designed by J.F. Johnson, who was working for the firm of Heal & Sons at the time. The set of bedroom furniture, of which this forms part, was made for the author Dodie Smith.

Stool · London · 1926-1927. Mahogany, veneered in ebony, drop-in seat pad upholstered with silk. By Johnson, J. F.. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.