Casgliadau Arlein

Small wooden footstool with 3 spherical feet; it consists of a separate upholstered top section which is secured to a base. Upholstery is embroidered with a combination of bead and canvas work. It depicts floral motifs set in two squares which have been superimposed at a 45° angle. Beads are white, black, grey, clear, opaque, lightblue and pink glass, as well as metal (now tarnished to black), and the ground is covered with tent stitch using maroon wool. Some metal beads are smooth, others are faceted. The canvas ground is an undyed tabby woven cellulosic fabric with the yarns being made of several strands plied together in an S-twist. The thread used to stitch on the beads is of undyed cellulosic fibre (3-ply, S-twist) with each plied strand consisting of a 2-ply. The embroidered top cover is secured to the wooden base with 22 nails, 4 of which are slightly larger (heads of small nails =Ø 2-3mm, big nails =Ø 4-5mm).

On the underside of the upholstered top section there are remains of thin clear plastic (visible around the edges) which are secured with tabs of yellowing self-adhesive tape. It is possible that the chair may have once had a plastic cover for protection. The underside of the base of the stool now has a big crack: it is 24cm long and up to 2.5mm wide.

The spherical wooden feet are held in place by a single nail. The upholstered top section is held in place by a diamond-shaped nut that screws onto a wooden bolt on the underside of the stool; in addition, it is secured by two steel screws. The diamond-shaped wooden nut is stained in some areas with gold-coloured paint. When the nut was released it was revealed that white/pale yellow adhesive (PVA?) was used to secure the wooden bolt to the base (later repair presumably after original animal glue failed).

Outer surfaces of the wood have a brown varnish. The outside edge of the base is covered with a thin veneer. There are some pencil marks on the underside of the stool.