Folding chairs of one kind or another have been with us for centuries. Here in the United States after 1860 there was a spike upward in the number of patented folding chairs for all sorts of uses. Recently we have been processing some improved folding chairs from our new Rothschild Patent Model Collection. One especially caught my attention due to its decorative appearance so I went to the patent to find out more about the chair.
(Hagley Museum Accession #2015.14.496)
On November 29, 1864, Augustus Eliaers of Boston Massachusetts received patent number 45,146 for this improved folding chair. Patents are a great resource to learn more about these objects since they describe the invention and how it is supposed to work in the inventor’s own voice. Eliaers said in his patent: “My improvements are designed for the purpose of so arrangement and constructing a chair that its back can be set at any desired inclination, and so that the whole chair can be brought into a very small compass, to facilitate its transportation from place to place.” He goes on to describe how he connected the pivoting seat and how to adjust the angle of the chair’s seat and back. At the end of the patent Elaiers describes exactly what his unique improvements are which include “the arrangement of the pivoted seat supported by braces…”
The patent drawing shows the chair’s various components.
At this point the question became who was Augustus Eliaers? French by birth, Eliaers was a cabinetmaker who was active in Boston from 1849 to 1865. He received at least five patents for his inventions including a seat for public buildings which was an upholstered theater seat (1854) and a staircase (1857). However his most well-known patent was for an improved library step-chair for which he received patent number 10,151 on October 1853. The Brooklyn Museum has one in their collection. http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/186404/Library_Step-Chair
The questions I always get are whether or not a patent model was manufactured and was it successful? After an internet search, I found a very similar folding chair, stamped with Eliaers name that was sold at auction in 2015. With that information as well as the number of his library step-chairs that still survive, I know that at least some of his patents were manufactured. How ultimately successful he was will have to wait until further research is done.
Each patent model opens the door to the world of 19th century United States inventions. In many cases, nothing is known about the person behind the invention. I was very lucky in this case to find out so much about Eliaers.
Debra Hughes is the Curator of Collections and Exhibits at Hagley.