19th century patent models

A cottage industry grew up around the US Patent Office in the mid 1800s when a model was required to be submitted with an application for a patent.

This gate was designed to slide to the middle and rotate to open partially or completely. Patented October 13, 1874 - Patent #155,953 by William R. Jenkins of Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

This model ended up in Canada following the sale of the Patent Office's patent model inventory. I acquired it in 2010.