{{short description|Rotating chair}} {{see|Office chair}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} thumb|A swivel chair with a pump to raise and lower the seat A '''swivel''', '''swivelling''', '''spinny''', or '''revolving chair''' is a chair 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 noble {{ill|Martin Löffelholz von Kolberg|de}} in his 1505 technological illuminated manuscript, the so-called {{ill|Codex Löffelholz|de|Löffelholz-Codex}}, on folio 10r.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.geistsoz.kit.edu/germanistik/3222.php | title =Martin Löffelholz, Allerlei Handwerkszeuge | website =Institut für Germanistik: Literatur, Sprache, Medien | publisher =Karlsruher Institut für Technologie | access-date =2021-09-20 | language = de}}</ref> It is purported that Thomas Jefferson drafted the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 while sitting on a swivel chair of his own design.<ref name=":0" />
== 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 offices 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. 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 automobile 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.<ref>American Philosophical Society Museum Web Site photo</ref>
== 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Martin Löffelholz, Allerlei Handwerkszeuge |date=3 June 2024 |url=https://www.geistsoz.kit.edu/germanistik/3222.php |publisher=Karlsruher Institut für Technologie |access-date=9 June 2024}}</ref>
Using an English-style Windsor chair, possibly made by and purchased from Francis Trumble or Philadelphia cabinet-maker Benjamin Randolph, Thomas Jefferson constructed an early swivel chair in 1775.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welch |first1=Rosanne |last2=Lamphier |first2=Peg A. |title=Technical Innovation in American History: An Encyclopedia of Science and Technology |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9798216153610 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uTNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT211 |access-date=9 June 2024}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sicDAAAAMBAJ&q=Who+invented+the+swivel+chair&pg=PA19|title=Thomas Jefferson- Scientist|work=Popular Science Magazine|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|date=February 1927|page=19|issn=0161-7370}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zs95upBWE40C&q=Invention+of+swivel+chairs&pg=PT209|title=Born in the USA: The Book of American Origins|last=Homer|first=Trevor|publisher=Sky Horse Publishing Inc.|year=2009|isbn=978-1626369764}}</ref><ref name="Thomas Jefferson">{{cite book|title=Thomas Jefferson|publisher=Heinemann-Raintree Classroom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N5OYHuHzywMC&q=Who+invented+the+swivel+chair&pg=PA13-IA6|page=12|isbn=9781403404169|date=August 2002}}</ref><ref name="Materials Chemistry">{{cite book|title=Materials Chemistry|publisher=Springer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKcd0IJDWTsC&q=Swivel+chair|isbn=9789400706934|date=18 March 2011}}</ref> 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 met in Philadelphia, Jefferson's swivel chair is purported to be the chair he sat upon when he drafted the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776.<ref name="digging">[https://books.google.com/books?id=AL_G5WIDbqkC&dq=Francis+Trumble&pg=PA145 Digging in the City of Brotherly Love]: stories from Philadelphia archaeology By Rebecca Yamin page 145</ref> Jefferson later had the swivel chair sent to his Virginia plantation, Monticello, where he built a "writing paddle" onto its side in August 1791.
Since 1836, Jefferson's chair has been in the possession of the American Philosophical Society located in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Writing Chairs|publisher=Gregory Le Fever|url=http://www.gregorylefever.com/pdfs/Writing%20Chair%202.pdf}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">American Philosophical Society Museum Web Site Photo of Jefferson's original swivel chair.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=F24 - Chair |url=https://amphilsoc.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/E13401EC-2BB2-42F4-93C5-710445455100 |website=amphilsoc.pastperfectonline.com |publisher=American Philosophical Society |quote=Revolving Windsor Chair with Writing Arm}}</ref>
{{gallery |mode=packed |File:Kodex Löffelholz - Biblioteka Jagiellońska Ms Berol Germ Qu 132 - fol 10r.jpg|Concept of a rotating chair with swivel wheels from Löffelholz-codex from Nuremberg, Germany, dated 1505 |File:Desk Chair Used By Paul J. Morrin - DPLA - 7cc3790a58d9aab6a89e88249ebc7023 (page 1).jpg|Desk chair with swivel and tilt mechanism made by the Conrades Manufacturing Company, Saint Louis, US |File:Old revolving office chair (2).jpg|An old swivel chair }}
==See also== * ''A Taxonomy of Office Chairs'' * Armrest * Bárány chair * Barber chair, another type of rotating chair * Folding seat * Gaming chair * Office chair
==References== {{commons category|Swivel chairs}} {{reflist}}
{{Thomas Jefferson|state=collapsed}}
Category:American inventions Category:Chairs Category:Works by Thomas Jefferson