A stool is a widespread and well-known piece of furniture. Most often it can be found in the kitchen or dining room. The stool is distinguished by its simplicity of shape and design, it is very convenient in everyday life, since it does not take up much space. This item seems so common that a modern person often does not even have questions about who and when invented the stool.
How the stool appeared
The ordinary stool, according to the researchers, was born much earlier than its close "relative" - the chair. But it is almost impossible to establish exactly where, by whom and when exactly this piece of furniture was invented. In essence and in appearance, the stool resembles a one-seater bench, which, most likely, was its prototype.
Furniture designed for seating appeared in the homes of the ancestors of modern man long ago, when people began to live in artificial buildings. At first, primitive man had to sit on damp earth, then on skins laid on stumps of wood, or on pillows made of such skins. But such a seat has not always been comfortable - it is difficult to move it from place to place.
Most likely, a block cut from a tree trunk became the prototype of the stool. It was quite simple to make it, but such a seat had a significant drawback - it was bulky and unwieldy. Subsequently, an unknown inventor came up with the idea to put a horizontal board on two chocks - this is how the bench appeared.
There was only one step left before coming up with and developing a project for more compact furniture intended for one person. A man fitted four vertical legs to a small board. And so the stool appeared.
The first stools found by archaeologists date back to around the third millennium BC.
Stool in ancient cultures
The stool was widely used in Ancient Egypt. For its manufacture, wood was used there. This piece of furniture could be found both in the houses of ordinary Egyptians and in the palaces of noble nobles and pharaohs. Stools in the houses of the nobility were distinguished by their sophistication of decoration: their legs were often figured and decorated with skillful carvings.
Often, the legs of the stools were stylized to resemble the paws of animals.
The first dynasties of the Egyptian pharaohs even used the stool as a throne. Only later did the rulers of Egypt begin to sit on chairs with high backs, which gave the Pharaoh a more majestic appearance. But the stool was not going to give up its positions and was widely used in everyday life, changing and improving.
In ancient Rome, stools with moving parts appeared. Such furniture was convenient because, if necessary, it could be folded and put away for storage. In stools, a cloth base was often used, which provided comfort for a person sitting on it. Subsequently, these stools have evolved into lightweight camping chairs.
