Northern European Louis XVI tabouret, ca. 1790

A small, richly decorated, gilt wooden tabouret. This tabouret is shaped like a gondola, with legs that angle slightly outwards. The curved stiles on which the seat rests are connected at the top by crosspieces whose ends visually appear to be fixed within a scroll. The tabouret as a whole is elaborately decorated with patterns of twisted ribbons, counted money, palmette leaves and pearl bands.

In European courts, tabourets served as seating for duchesses. The strict rules of etiquette determined that only members of regal families were permitted to remain seated in a chair, with or without back- and armrests depending on circumstance, in the presence of a higher-ranking personage. Lower nobility were not permitted to sit in the presence of high nobles and monarchs, unless it was to play cards. Tabourets were seats for ladies; men did not sit on such furniture. The term used in this context was privilege du tabouret.