Two-legged stool
Date made: 1800-1900
Description: Stool, with two legs, but may once have had three, propped against the corner of the chiollagh for as long as the donor remembers, circa 60 years. Originally from house of Tom Moore, Ballaglonney, Ronague, the donor's great uncle. Shaped from 'stool' of timber, possibly bog oak. Chiollagh is the Manx word for fireplace or hearth.
Stephen Harrison, former director of Manx National Heritage, commented in 2022 when asked what was his favourite object in the national collections:
"The first item that came to mind was a little two, three cornered stool which fascinated me from the first time I spotted it in the gloom of the 'lower folk life store' a few days into my tenure. It's No.126 in the Furniture Catalogue. It just seems to symbolise the affinity our predecessors had with natural items while at the same time employing a full dose of folk culture ingenuity to adapt it to a use which immediately stimulates you to imagine the warmth of the smoky peat fire where the stool was supported against the wall of the hearth."
Measurements: overall: 35 x 60 x 35 cm
Object name: stool
Collection: Furniture Collection
ID Number: 1969-0002
Subject tags : #MM100COLLECTIONS