A swivel, swivelling, spinny, or revolving chair is a

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

with a single central leg that allows the seat to rotate 360 degrees to the left or right. A concept of a rotating chair with swivel castors was illustrated by the

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

noble Martin Löffelholz von Kolberg in his 1505 technological

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

, the so-called

Codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

Löffelholz, on folio 10r. It is purported that

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

drafted the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

in 1776 while sitting on a swivel chair of his own design.

Types and examples

Swivel chairs may have wheels on the base allowing the user to move the chair around their work area without getting up. This type is common in modern

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

s and are often also referred to as office chairs. Office swivel chairs, like computer chairs, usually incorporate a gas lift to adjust the height of the seat, but not usually large (e.g. recliner) swiveling armchairs. A draughtsman's chair is a swivel chair without wheels that is usually taller than an 'office chair' for use in front of a

drawing board A drawing board (also drawing table, drafting table or architect's table) is, in its antique form, a kind of multipurpose desk which can be used for any kind of drawing, writing or impromptu sketching on a large sheet of paper or for reading a la ...

. They also have a foot-ring to support the legs when it is not possible to reach the ground.

Swivel seat

When the swivel chair is installed in an

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

, an

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

or on a stair lift and can not move independently because it is on a fixed base, it is rather called a swivel seat. Some swivel seats are also bucket seats.

Origin

An earlier prototype of a swivel chair dates back to a 1505 illustrated manuscript from a German noble named Martin Löffelholz von Kolberg. He conceived of a chair that could twist on its legs and adjust its height. Using an English-style Windsor chair, possibly made by and purchased from Francis Trumble or Philadelphia cabinet-maker Benjamin Randolph,

constructed an early swivel chair in 1775. Jefferson heavily modified the Windsor chair and incorporated top and bottom parts connected by a central iron spindle, enabling the top half, known as the seat, to swivel on casters of the type used in rope-hung windows. It had no wheels. When the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

met in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Jefferson's swivel chair is purported to be the chair he sat upon when he drafted the

in 1776.Digging in the City of Brotherly Love
stories from Philadelphia archaeology By Rebecca Yamin page 145 Jefferson later had the swivel chair sent to his

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

plantation,

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

, where he built a "writing paddle" onto its side in August 1791. Since 1836, the chair has been in the possession of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

located in Philadelphia.American Philosophical Society Museum Web Site Photo of Jefferson's original swivel chair.

References

{{Thomas Jefferson, state=collapsed American inventions Chairs Works by Thomas Jefferson

Types and examples

Swivel seat

Origin

See also

References