Sedan Chair

A sedan chair is an enclosed chair mounted on two horizontal poles and carried by two or more porters, one at the front and one at the back, used across Europe and Asia from antiquity into the nineteenth century to transport a single seated passenger through streets too narrow, crowded or poorly paved for a wheeled carriage. Especially popular among the wealthy in cities such as London and Paris, it allowed a rider to be carried directly indoors, sheltered from weather and street traffic alike.