Sedan chair

“ A strange looking procession was making its way up the mountain; in front were two men carrying a sedan chair, in which sat a girl well wrapped up in shawls; then followed a horse, mounted by a stately-looking lady who was looking about her with great interest and talking to the guide who walked beside her; then a reclining chair, which was being pushed up by another man, it having evidently been thought safer to send the invalid to whom it belonged up the steep path in a sedan chair. ”

“ There is no mode of traveling known to civilization where the accommodations are so wretched, and the mental and physical discomforts so great, as in riding on a rail after the American system. The only thing in its favor is its cheapness, as it is generally quite gratuitous.
In Europe, before the adoption of wheeled vehicles, those who could afford the luxury, were carried in chairs by two or more porters; the conveyance was said to have originated in Sedan, France, and thus became known as the sedan chair. ”

“ China, because the streets are very narrow, and the carriage could not move about. But we saw some sedan-chairs, and one of these days we are going to have a ride in them. It looks as though a ride of this sort would be very comfortable, as you have a good chair to sit in, and then you are held up by men who walk along very steadily. Ordinarily you have two men; but if you are a grand personage, or are going on a long course, three or four men are needed. The chair is quite pretty, as it has a lot of ornamental work about it, and the lower part is closed in with light panelling or bamboo-work. ”

“ This same coolie, meeting a sedan chair borne by two or more coolies like himself, must at once make a similar concession, which is in turn repeated by the chair-bearers in favour of any one riding a horse. On similar grounds, an empty sedan-chair must give way to one in which there is a passenger; and though not exactly on such rational grounds, it is understood that horse, chair, coolie and foot-passenger all clear the road for a wedding or other procession, as well as for the retinue of a mandarin. A servant, too, should stand at the side of the road to let his master pass. ”

“ At that time, namely, the opening of the nineteenth century, the old traditionary custom of the place had established for young and old the luxury of sedan-chairs. Nine tenths, at least, of the colds and catarrhs, those initial stages of all pulmonary complaints (the capital scourge of England) , are caught in the transit between the door of a carriage and the genial atmosphere of the drawing-room. By a sedan-chair all this danger was evaded: your two chairmen marched right into the hall: the hall-door was closed ”

“ There is very little mention made by historians of steel springs, but they were first applied to wheel carriages about 1670. At this period a vehicle drawn by men, and called a Brouette (or wheelbarrow) was introduced at Paris. [Plate 19.] It was a sedan chair, to hold one person, with the door in front like the sedan chairs are now made, but on two wheels, about 3 ft. 6 in. high, and with two poles or shafts projecting forward, between which one man ran, whilst another pushed behind if the weight required it. ”

“ The sedan-chair can be taken into the bedroom, and the invalid conveyed without exposure to the outer air to and from the mineral-water bath. The poles are so arranged that the chair may be carried up and down stairs and still preserve its horizontal position. ”

“ The structure is suspended, something in the fashion of a sedan-chair which has been stunted in its growth, between two poles; between the projections of these again, before and behind, connected by a stout strap, are two shorter bars, each supported, when in travelling order, on the shoulders of two bearers. When the machine is in motion, therefore, there are four men in line between the shafts.
The pace is always rather fast, and down a declivity the torturers go at a run ”

“ Traveling in this mode is continued both by day and night, and the palanquin is accompanied by a train of attendants, who carry the traveler’s clothes and whatever articles he may not immediately need. Similar modes of traveling have been at various times in use in Western Europe, but only for short distances. The Roman lectica (“litter”) , the French chaise à porteurs, and the English sedan-chair were the forms of vehicles most in use, and the two latter were in general use in towns till they were superseded by coaches, etc. ”

“ Gerrish is carried in a Sedan to the Wharf and so takes boat for Salem." Again he writes on May 31, 1715: "The Gov'r comes first to Town, was carried from Mr. Dudleys to the Town-House in Cous. Dumers Sedan; but 'twas too tall for the Stairs, so was fain to be taken out near the top of them." The Governor had had a bad attack of gout.
On September 11, 1706, Sewall writes: "Five Indians carried Mr. Bromfield in a chair." And though I have never seen the sale of a sedan mentioned, several times I have fancied that the reference to the sale of a chair meant a sedan-chair. ”

“ Every now and then some chair would come down with a run, from the unequal motion of the two donkeys attached to it, spilling the frightened occupant on to the hard sand, or, what was still worse, a portion of the wretched harness would give way, and cause the dropping of one corner of the sedan, which, if not speedily rectified, is sufficient to tire the patience of the most stoical. ”

“ Scythian cart, 37 305 Sedan, 85, 95 Sedan cart, 100 Sedan chair. See chair Sedanny, 95 Sefton, Earl of, 265 sella, 36; sella portatoria, 37; sella muliebris, 37 Selwyn, George, 102 Seneca, 30, 31 Sentimental Journey, 171 Shakespeare, William, 88 n. Sharpe, James, 181, 184, 185 shay, 140, 221, 222, 246 shaze. See chaise Shillibeer, George, 253, 254, 280 Shippon, General, 55 Shooter’s Hill, 117 Sidney, Sir Philip, 59 Siegmund, Baron de Herberstein, 65 Sinclair, Sir John, 217 six-wheeled carriage, 237 Sketches by Boz, 242 Sketches of English Society, 105 σκιμπόδιον. ”

“ They are like a couch, sufficiently long for the rider to recline, covered with a canopy resting on pillars at the four corners, hung round with curtains to exclude the sun; they have a door, sometimes of lattice-work, on each side. They are borne by four or more men, by means of strong poles, like those of our sedan-chairs; and in travelling great distances, there are always several sets of men to relieve each other. The materials of which these palanquins are made, and the style of their construction, depend upon the rank and wealth of the owners. ”

“ Sedan chairs have been in use in China from ancient times, and at the present day, in all parts of the country, they are looked upon as an important article in a civil officer's equipment, the rank of the owner being indicated by the number of bearers and followers attached to his sedan. ”

“ The condition of the streets and public thoroughfares would, in ancient times, have rendered the employment of vehicles impossible, and thus persons who did not go on foot went on horseback until the sixteenth century, when the use of the so-called “Sedan-chairs” became general. Wheeled carriages were not absolutely unknown, but in Francis I.’s reign there were but two, one belonging to the king, the other to the queen. ”

“ Not a single wheeled carriage can move in all Canton, and the only mode of locomotion is by means of sedan-chairs. We had chairs every day with four bearers to each, and it was strange to see how fast the men would walk in the dense crowds without hitting any one. ”

“ and when they left off at ten minutes past eleven, Miss Bolo rose from the table considerably agitated, and went straight home, in a flood of tears, and a sedan chair. ”

“ The three upright slats in the back are 3/4-in. material. The detail drawing shows the side and back, the front being the same as the back from the seat down. All joints are mortised in the posts, as shown. The joints, however, can be made with dowels if desired. If making dowel joints they must be clamped very tight when glued and put together. The seat can be made from one piece of 7/8-in. material, fitted with notches around the posts. This is then upholstered with leather without using springs. Leather must be selected as to color to suit the kind of wood used in making the chair. ”

“ In early times rush always served a function in the seats of chairs and stools, and was very seldom if ever used on the better class of furniture. The use of cane or rush on furniture for decorative purposes only is distinctly a modern idea. Utility rather than beauty prompted the introduction of seats of rush.
Modern furniture of excellent design and workmanship employs rush seats. These are either woven over a separate frame and inserted or are an integral part of the chair, being woven over the seat rails of the chair itself. Fig. ”

“ These perforations make the seat light, and also ventilate the same. The edges of the seat rest upon and are secured to the chairframe; and in Fig. 2 the frame is rabbeted to form shoulders, f, upon which the edges of the seat rest. I claim as my invention; (1) as a new article of manufacture, a chair-seat formed of laminae of wood, with the grain crossed, glued together, and concave on the upper surface, and convex on the lower surface, adapted to a chair-frame, substantially as set forth. ”

“ Take care to make the saw-cuts inside the two-inch mark, so that the rails will fit snugly into the corner-posts without any play. There is nothing so annoying in a chair as to have it loose-jointed and rickety.
A wooden seat sixteen inches square, with the rear corners cut out to fit around the back posts, is nailed or screwed fast to the top edges of the upper rails all around; and for the back a twelve-by-sixteen-inch piece is cut and screwed fast in the laps cut at the upper ends of the back posts, as shown in Fig. ”

“ Whether viewed with regard to lightness, comfort, or any other quality associated with such mode of carriage, there is nothing so convenient elsewhere. Two bearers place upon their shoulders the poles, which are thin and elastic and in shape something like the shafts of a gig, connected near the ends, and in this manner they proceed forward with a measured step in an almost imperceptible motion, and sometimes with considerable speed. Instead of panels, the sides and back of the chair consist of woollen cloth for the sake of lightness with a covering of oilcloth against rain. ”

“ The brass-headed nail is always used for fastening the material to the frames of his seats. These are always placed close together, and are sometimes arranged in the form of festoons, or scallops, around the seat. The stripe is his favourite design for coverings. The festoon and the ornamental tassel he greatly admires.
The Heppelwhite chair has attained great fame. Generally speaking, its proportions are as follows: height, 3 feet, 1 inch; height to seat frame, 17 inches; depth of seat, 17 inches; and width of seat in front, 20 inches. ”

“ There is no smug Pullman attached to the train, and the day coaches of the East are replaced by free chair cars, with each seat cut into two adjustable plush chairs, the head-rests covered with doubtful linen towels. ”

“ We had no books large enough to build the seat of a chair appreciably higher; and to sit on our thick medical book and a stack of smaller ones would be to ask for a couple of broken ribs.
The typewriter seemed to be the perfect solution. It's a portable, and, enclosed in its case, makes a solid seat. I put it on the chair in the kitchen, sat on top of it, and found that I could see the highway. Whenever I saw headlights of a car coming slowly I told Grant, and he put down his paper to go out after it. ”

“ My chair-seat is a new article, possessing great strength and durability. It is very light and cheap. It forms an agreeable seat. It is not hot in summer or cold in winter. The perforations give the wood a handsome appearance, and afford the required ventilation, and the seat is adapted to be secured to any chair-frame, as it is easily cut and fitted to the same, and the cost of these seats is less than those made of cane, and they are much more durable. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan, with the upper layer of veneer partially removed. ”

“ This usually prevents the chair from squeaking, due to a loose seat.
In constructing the wood frame for this kind of seat allow at least 3/16 inch for the thickness of materials. More allowance should be made for thick material and genuine leather.
Attach webbing and burlap in the usual manner; then form the hard edge as described previously. The hard edge is shown in Fig. 17 together with tow, wadding, and muslin, and Fig. 18 shows the seat ready for the covering after the trimming of the raw edges. The finished seat placed in a rocker is illustrated in Fig. 19. ”

“ Avoid showy chairs, and everything that smacks of the cheap furniture market. It will strengthen the chairs to have hat rails as well as ordinary side rails, and be a convenience to readers as well. They should cross from the bottom side rail, thus, . Arm-chairs should be provided at discretion. In magazine rooms where there is a rack, tables can be largely dispensed with if arm-chairs are used. If neither wood-block flooring nor linoleum is used, the chairs may with great advantage be shod with round pieces of sole leather screwed through a slightly sunk hole to the ends of the legs. ”

“ The adjacent chair, with its tall back with curved splat and its cabriole legs, marks the transition 221 between William and Mary and Queen Anne. The top rail indicates by its clumsy joinery the touch of the immature country cabinet-maker. It is an attempt to approach a fine model with insufficiency of skill by the maker. The use of the cabriole leg either in chairs or in dressers in homely furniture has always proved a stumbling-block to the minor craftsman. ”