For those interested, I thought I’d share a recent acquisition of mine that I haven’t yet listed on the website. Only around 1,500 original Sedan chairs are known to survive worldwide, and this example appears to be of Dutch or Northern French origin.
For anyone unfamiliar, Sedan chairs were an early form of short-distance transport, designed to navigate the narrow, crowded streets of European towns and cities. Long before the arrival of modern plumbing, these streets were often filthy with excrement and household waste. Hygiene standards were so poor that urine was even used for laundry, while Night Soil men collected and removed human waste from cesspits and chamber pots, disposing of it on the outskirts of towns.
Before the introduction of the single-horse Brougham carriage in the 1830s–1840s, which offered greater manoeuvrability, the Sedan chair was the primary means of personal transport in urban environments. Carried by two men using long poles, they served as short-distance taxis for the wealthy.
Interestingly, Sedan chairs weren’t used solely outdoors — in large stately homes with grand entrances, smaller indoor versions were sometimes employed to carry the master or mistress of the house between rooms in comfort and style.
Our surviving example, while missing much of its original interior, features beautiful painted panels depicting a Northern French or Dutch countryside scene, complete with rolling hills, windmills, and a castle, evoking the romanticism typical of the late 18th century.
When we acquired it, we discovered documents dated 1793 and 1808, signed by Napoleon Bonaparte’s generals, one of which bears an official Dutch seal (under French control) impressed on parchment. Further research and translation of these documents are currently underway.