Please click on images to expand.
This bench/cricket displays rare proportions – it is wide enough to comfortably accommodate two young children.
The rectangular top features black and red grain paint within a border of green and yellow painted trim typical of South Paris, Maine. The legs are tall and swell at the center; three incised rings ornament the legs.
In the 19th century, a cricket (also known as a cricket stool or bench) was a small, low footstool usually measuring less than 12 inches high. Children primarily sat on them because they were the ideal height for young youth in homes where full-sized furniture was expensive and space was limited. In unheated colonial-style meeting houses [churches], families used crickets in box pews. Children would sit on these stools and huddle together, often with their feet on foot warmers and blankets draped over them to trap heat. Also, In dwellings without proper chimneys or smoke holes, sitting on a low cricket allowed children to stay below the rising clouds of smoke near the ceiling.
Item Date: 19th Century
Measurement: 10.75" x 27" x 7.5"
Material: White pine, maple, and paint
Item Condition: Excellent
Price: $465
SKU 410-267
For More Information, Please Contact David Hillier at 978-597-8084 or email drh@aaawt.com.