Sedan Chair
Patent/design registration not found
Needle Case (photographs courtesy of Lynda Herrod)
Design Details
Needle Case Type: |
Figural |
Patent/Registered to: |
Unknown |
Patent/Design Representation #: |
Unknown |
Patent/Design Registration Date: |
Unknown |
Location of Patent/Design Registration: |
Unknown |
Reference #: |
Unknown |
Dimensions: |
4.6 x 8.5 x 10.3 |
Material: |
Brass |
Name Variations: |
W. Avery & Son - Redditch |
Other Variations: |
None |
Additional Photographs
Front and back views
Top and crown details
Top open and bottom signature detail
Facts
A sedan chair consisted of a windowed compartment just large enough to hold a chair for a single occupant. Wooden rails passed through
brackets on the chairs’ sides so that men, at least one in the front and one in the back, could carry the passenger from one location to
another.
History
The sedan chair probably had its origins in the Middle East or Asia where its predecessor the litter, a wheelless vehicle powered by
humans, had been around for years. In the 17th and 18th centuries the sedan chair became quite common with the upper class and royalty
in Spain, France, England and colonial America. During this period cities and towns did not have adequate sewage systems and chamber
pots and kitchen waste thrown from windows often ended up in the streets. Sedan chairs provided the affluent with a way to avoid this
by allowing them to ride off the ground while their carrying valets had to navigating the filth in the streets. Sedan chairs like the
ones shown in this 18th century catalog went out of style in the early 19th century.
Miscellaneous
The sedan chair pictured below is made of oak, moroccan leather, gilt metal, glass and silk. It was originally made in 1763 by a
London firm for Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III and was acquired by Queen Victoria in 1883. Based on the scrolls, swags
of roses, laurel wreaths, oak and laurel sprays and the crown on the top, it appears as though this is the model that William Avery used when
he created his Sedan Chair needle case.
