Down at the hearth or out in the milking shed, a stool like this was always within reach, low to the ground and light enough to move with a foot. Found in France and made in the 20th century, it has a thick round seat with the grain swirling around its edge, set on three short legs turned in soft, wavy swells and splayed for balance. Three legs were the country woodworker’s trick for a floor that was never flat, sitting steady where a fourth would only rock, and the wavy turned legs are the one bit of decoration the maker allowed himself. Sylvie sets it by the fireplace with a cup of coffee cooling on the seat, close enough to reach from the armchair through a long winter afternoon.
