WOODEN CLOSE STOOL.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Historia universalis. An ingenious collapsible commode, designed to resemble a venerable leather-bound volume while discreetly housing a chamber pot. Blending practicality with aesthetic appeal, such furniture was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, reflecting the period's taste for functional objects that also served as conversation pieces. Book-shaped examples are uncommon on the market.Close-stools, also known as night stools or chaises percées, were often disguised to conceal their true purpose. This example appears to have been made by recycling a late 15th or early 16th-century French binding, the blind tooled designs and brass fittings being typical of this period (see Gid, Catalogue des reliures françaises). The later label reads Historia Universalis ("The universal history" or "The history of everything"), a made-up title, but a plausible one for such a large book. The leather is wrapped around a wooden structure which opens to reveal two connected boards that fold out to form a closed square; a third board, with a hole in the middle, can be lifted upwards to become the seat. The current consensus is that collapsible close stools were employed both inside houses, where people routinely used chamber pots, but also while travelling. The wear on this example perhaps indicates that it was carried around, despite its dimensions and weight. Smaller examples were made for children. The popularity of these objects must have decreased progressively from 1775, when Alexand

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