Object Description
For sale, a late Eighteenth Century Electrostatic Insulating Stool or Lightning Stool
Comprised of a two-piece mahogany board with two mahogany runners screwed to the underside which carry four original glass legs.
These so called lightning stools were used in conjunction with early electrostatic devices such as the Nairne Pattern or Ramsden machines which were developed for electrical experimentation during the latter part of the Eighteenth Century. They would insulate the user from grounding themselves while operating said machines.
I have a very similar example which is contained within a cased Nairne Pattern machine by George Adams of Fleet Street and this example would likely have been provided as part of a similar set when it was first retailed.
These are always somewhat functionally built although few have survived over the years. An interesting addition to a collection of early electrostatic instruments.
Circa 1770