The Flying Chair

Jean-Jacques Renouard, Count of Villayer (1605-1691), is reported to have invented this mechanism. He perfected this system in Paris and, thanks to his ties with the House of Condé, installed it at Chantilly and at Versailles, in the prince’s own mansion.

Saint-Simon comments on the invention of these flying chairs, “which by counterweights rise and descend alone between two walls to the floor we wish to access by sitting in it by the sole weight of the body and stopping where we wish”. The memoir writer also mentions the amusing adventure of the Duchess of Bourbon who remained locked in for nearly three hours between two floors of her Versailles hotel, before they freed her by demolishing the walls.

BTW : Chantilly was owned by the Montmorency family. Henri II de Montmorency was executed in 1632 on the orders of Louis XIII and Richelieu. His sister, Charlotte had married the Prince de Condé, cousin of Louis XIII and claimant to the throne of France. The Condé  inherited Chantilly.

Freaking Ladders, my arse!