Chinese Folding Camp Stool

A folding stool that kept its dignity and its rope-rough seat strip.

This folding camp stool is from Shanxi Province, China, and dates to the mid 19th century. It is woven hemp & elm wood. Collectors generally weigh aesthetics, age, condition, design, origin and provenance when judging antique furniture, though the article argues that scarcity ends up with the greatest influence on value. Two crossed pairs of rounded legs meet a narrow seat band between projecting crossbars, with a coarse woven texture visible on top. Heavy low feet bars anchor it. Surface is dry, honey brown, softly worn at the ends. It is 15 inches long, 10.5 deep and 17 high.

Built to travel, and plainly proud of the mileage.