Surgical chairs, as a category of medical furniture, date from about 1870 through 1920. Their appearance coincided with the advent of new diagnostic instruments, the rise of medical specialties, and the development of office practice by physicians. The “Perfection physician’s chair,” seen here, was manufactured around 1890 by the Miner & Elbreg Co. of Indianapolis, Indiana. Like many physician’s chairs of the era, it served as an examining chair, but it also could be converted into a surgical table. Convertibility did more than save space; it also concealed function. Instrumental examinations, particularly with the vaginal speculum,Continue reading… Physician’s surgical chair, 1890
