Admin: 1 revision imported: Mitul Imported from Wikipedia

2021-04-11T19:44:29Z

1 revision imported: Mitul Imported from Wikipedia

setup>Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 16 templates: del empty params (3×); hyphenate params (7×);

2020-12-30T21:50:28Z

Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 16 templates: del empty params (3×); hyphenate params (7×);

New page

[[File:Patent No 8771 drawing.jpg|thumb|U.S. Patent No 8771 drawing image]]
[[File:Patent 8771 image crop.jpg|thumb|Patent 8771 image close-up of parts]]
[[File:Ladder chair with brass swivel.png|thumb|upright|Shaker ladder chair with ball swivels on rear legs for tilting]]
The '''Shaker tilting chair''' {{ndash}} named for its [[ball bearing]] or [[ball and socket]]{{efn-ua|See also [[ball joint]] and [[Spherical bearing]].}} button mechanism assembled to the back two legs of a wooden chair {{ndash}} allowed a person to lean back in the chair without slipping or scraping the floor.{{efn-ua|"Near the middle of the century the Shakers invented their tilting-chair device, which was inserted under the tips of the back legs to prevent slipping or marring of floors when the chair was tilted back against a wall".<ref name="Shea"/>}}

== Description ==
The device was a new practical way of being able to lean back without slipping while sitting in a common [[Shaker]] [[Ladderback chair|ladder-back wooden chair]].<ref name="Shea">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XD6Jehgzp4kC&pg=PA37 |title=Making Authentic Shaker Furniture: With Measured Drawings of Museum Classics |first1=John Gerald |last1=Shea |page=37 |date=May 5, 1992 |isbn=978-0-486-27003-6}}</ref> It prevented damage to carpets and scraping the floors usually caused by the back legs of chairs when they slipped.<ref name="slipped">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0YcAQAAMAAJ&q=Shaker+%22tilting+chair%22&dq=Shaker+%22tilting+chair%22 |work=[[House & Garden (magazine)|House & Garden]] |title=Shaker Tilting Chair |page=47 |volume=87 |year=1945}}</ref>

The main feature of the Shaker ladder-back chair was a tilting ball and socket joint mechanism installed on the bottom of the two rear legs to keep the leg bottoms level.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.smystyle.com/2014/02/18/the-shakers-and-their-furniture/ |title=The Shakers and Their Furniture |author=Smy |publisher=smystyle.com |date=18 February 2014 |access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref>
Normally the inflection of the chair feet edges into wooden floors would cause deep scratches and into carpets would cause puncture tear holes.<ref name="designmatters">
{{cite web |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/iadshake/iadshake-29240.html |title=Shaker Tilting Chair |author= |year=2015 |website=The Collection |publisher=[[National Gallery of Art]], Washington, DC |access-date=June 1, 2015}}</ref> The ball joint mechanism idea would prevent unnecessary punctures and stress to the chair components because the chair feet were kept level and flat even though the chair was tilted back.<ref name="Katcher">{{cite web |url=http://www.janekatchercollection.com/html/shakerchair.html |title=Patent model side chair for button joint tilters George O. Donnel (born circa 1823) New Lebanon, New York, 1852 |work=Selections from the Jane Katcher Collection of Americana |publisher=janekatchercollection.com |access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref><ref name="tilts">{{cite book |last=Bronner |first=Simon J |date=2015 |title=Encyclopedia of American Folklife |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvjqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1115 |publisher=Routledge |pages=1115, 1116 |isbn=1-317-47195-4}}</ref>
Initially the swivel idea was developed using just wooden balls around 1834.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rn9QAAAAMAAJ&dq=Donnell+not+invent+Shaker+tilting+chair&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=not+invent+Shaker+tilting+chair |title=Shaker works |author=Katonah Gallery |date=June 1, 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-voy2O7dHVkC&pg=PA93 |title=Masterpieces of Shaker Furniture |first1=Edward Deming |last1=Andrews |author-link=Edward Deming Andrews |first2=Faith |last2=Andrews |page=93 |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |isbn=978-0-486-40724-1 |edition=1st Dover |date=June 18, 1999 |access-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref> It was later realized that this new concept for tilting caused major stress to the chair.<ref name="ShakerDesign">{{cite book |first1=June |last1=Sprigg |location=pbk. S.l |date=1986 |title=Shaker Design |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRpnncwN_4AC&pg=PA75 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |pages=74, 75 |isbn=0-393-30544-9 |access-date=June 1, 2015}}</ref> More repair engineering work was required than initially foreseen.<ref name="ShakerDesign"/> This was due to the weakening of the leg caused by drilling involved in installation of the wooden ball joint mechanism.<ref name="ShakerDesign"/> Ultimately, the wooden ball concept was discarded and the production of this device ceased.<ref name="ShakerDesign"/>

Brother George O'Donnell of [[Mount Lebanon Shaker Society|Shaker Village in New Lebanon, New York]] came up with a strong metal attachment device in 1852.<ref name="tttilts">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3DI_xYBqKbwC&pg=PA127 |title=Inspired Innovations: A Celebration of Shaker Ingenuity |first1=M. Stephen |last1=Miller |isbn=978-1-58465-850-4 |publisher=[[University Press of New England]] |date=January 12, 2010 |page=127}}</ref> It replaced the wooden ball bearing that was inserted into the wooden legs and secured with a leather strap.<ref name="tttilts"/> The metal ball-bearing mechanism was patented by him.{{efn-ua|According to Jerry V. Grant, Director of Collections and Research at [[Shaker Museum and Library|"Shaker Museum Mount Lebanon"]]: "The Shakers, while they patented some of their inventions, were prohibited by Church rules from profiting from such patents – that is, they did not sell patent rights for their inventions but rather patented things to protect themselves from having others patent their inventions and turning around and charging them for using their own inventions."<ref>email Wednesday, June 3, 2015 10:41 AM</ref> The Shakers thus were proactive in preventatives against [[Patent trolls]].}}<ref name="Katcher"/><ref name="tttilts"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/patents/US8771?dq=8771+Donnell&hl=en |publisher=United States Patent Office |title=Patent of Geo. O'Donnell, of New Lebanon, New York. Chair. Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,771 |date=March 2, 1852 |access-date=June 2, 2015}}</ref> It consisted of brass [[ferrules]] and balls.<ref name="tttilts"/> It was a practical strong metal attachment to the back two legs of wooden chairs to allow the sitter to tilt back without gouging the floor.<ref name="tttilts"/> A version of O'Donnell's tilt device is still being used on chairs in the twenty-first century.<ref name="still">{{cite web |author=Retrospect |url=http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/quick-history-shaker-design-164608 |title=Quick History:Quaker Design |year=2015 |publisher=Apartment Therapy |access-date=June 2, 2015}}</ref>

The Shakers manufactured the "tilting chair" for sale in the 1870s to people outside their community labeling them with "Shaker's Trade Mark, Mt. Lebanon, N.Y." which was the place of the Shaker Village in the state of New York.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://antiques.about.com/od/furniture/a/ShakerFurniture012310.htm |title=Learn About the Origins of Shaker Style American Furniture |first1=Troy |last1=Segal |work=About.com Home}}</ref>
The tilting buttons on the two back legs that made it a tilting chair were sometimes referred to as "tilters", "swiveling tilter" or "ball and socket feet" that allowed the flat underside of the foot to stay level when the chair was tilted back.<ref name="tilters">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofshakerfurn00kass |url-access=registration |title=The Book of Shaker Furniture |via=[[Internet Archive]] |first1=John |last1=Kassay |page=[https://archive.org/details/bookofshakerfurn00kass/page/127 127] |isbn=978-0-87023-275-6 |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |date=June 28, 1980}}</ref> In a catalog of New Lebanon Shaker chairs for sale it was an additional price of twenty five cents for button joint tilts to be added to a chair.<ref name="tilters"/> It was noted by historian Kassay that the general philosophy of a diner "tilting chair" was out of place in the Shaker community, as Believers were not allowed the luxury of after-meal relaxation time.<ref name="tilters"/>

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Shaker chairs}}
*[http://www.janekatchercollection.com/html/shakerchair.html Patent model chair for button joint tilters by George O. Donnel of New Lebanon, New York, 1852]
*{{cite web |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/iadshake/iadshake-29240.html |title=Shaker Tilting Chair, watercolor and graphite on paper, Rendered by John W. Kelleher (artist) |date=1937 |work=Index of American Design |publisher=From the Tour: Shaker Crafts from the Index of American DesignShaker Tilting Chair rendition [[National Gallery of Art]] |access-date=June 2, 2015}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/SP/936/ |title=A chair button, used on tilting chairs |author= |year=1921 |publisher=[[Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library|The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc.]], Historic Map Works |access-date=June 2, 2015}}

[[Category:Chairs]]
[[Category:Shaker inventions]]
[[Category:19th-century inventions]]

← Older revision	Revision as of 19:44, 11 April 2021
(No difference)

Shaker tilting chair - Revision history

Admin: 1 revision imported: Mitul Imported from Wikipedia

setup>Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 16 templates: del empty params (3×); hyphenate params (7×);