Folding steps
Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1915
Materials
Oak, metal
Measurements
59.5 x 51 x 35 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Bateman's, East Sussex
NT 760879
Summary
A set of oak folding stool, or folding steps, English, circa 1915, made by the Disabled Soldiers & Sailors at the Lord Robert's Memorial Workshops, London Eastern Branch. Having a circular top and two treads. -- This stool was made at a London branch of Lord Robert's Memorial Workshops by disabled soldiers and sailors returning from action in the First World War. The Workshops were formed in 1915, named for Field Marshall Lord Roberts, who had served in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, in Abyssinia and Afghanistan and in the Second Boer War. He died in France in November 1914, while visiting troops fighting in World War I. The soldiers and sailors - often badly maimed - found work in these workshops, often making toys and dolls' houses. This stool is a relatively rare example of their furniture.
Provenance
Listed in Mr. Kipling's Work Room in the inventory taken at Bateman's in 1939. Bequeathed by Caroline Starr Balestier, Mrs Rudyard Kipling (1862-1939) with Bateman’s and its contents.
Marks and inscriptions
Underside seat: Made by / Disabled Soldiers & Sailors / at the / LORD ROBERTS MEMORIAL / WORKSHOPS / LONDON E BRANCHES
Makers and roles
Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops, maker