NARRATOR: Strict protocol governed seating arrangements at the French court. And folding stools like these played a significant role. The king and queen sat in armchairs. Certain members of the royal family and important visitors could use side chairs. And finally, princes, dukes, high-ranking dignitaries, and their wives were allowed to use these folding stools. Everyone else stood. The Duke of Saint-Simon relates in his memoirs how Louis XIV gave the Duke’s new wife permission to sit on a taboret, a round folding stool. It was at supper. He describes the rigid court etiquette:

CHARACTER VOICE, LOUIS XIV (IN FRENCH): “Je vous en prie, Madame, veuillez vous asseoir.” SAINT-SIMON: “The King said as he sat down to the table, ‘Pray Madame, be seated.’ He looked up as his napkin was being unfolded, and, seeing all the duchesses and princesses still standing, half-rose from his chair and addressing Mme de Saint-Simon said, ‘Madame, I have already desired you to sit,’ whereupon all those who had the privilege sat down, Mme de Saint-Simon between my mother and hers, who came after her in the order of precedence.”

NARRATOR: The inventories of Versailles list large numbers of folding stools, and these stools are stamped with the palace’s mark. The gilt frames, with their curving Rococo outlines, are adorned with bulrushes, acanthus leaves, and basket-weave motifs.