Sedan chair

© Transport for London
Collection of London Transport Museum
Enlarge
Add your memory

Sedan chair with two wooden carrying poles, 1780-1800

Chair to anywhere : Enclosed chairs carried on poles by two chairmen could be hired for short journeys in central London. Known as sedan chairs, they were first introduced in the 17th century and were still in use on the streets of London in the early 1800s.

The public hire chair displayed here dates from about 1780. Chairs such as this had to be licensed and numbered. Most of them started life as the private chairs of wealthy citizens.

The passenger in the sedan chair on your left is modelled on Leslie Lawrence, Chief Signalling Engineer and Engineering Director of London Transport from 1976–89. This mannequin was sponsored by Cubic Transportation Systems Ltd.

Dimensions: Width: 755mm, Height: 1630mm

Reference number: 2006/6312

---

See this object and other related objects from within the 19th century London gallery