Friends of Innovation Patent Model Sponsors

Inspiring the Inventor in Everyone

Since 1790, the American patent system has played a crucial role in protecting intellectual property, fostering technological and industrial progress and establishing the United States as a nation of inventors.

Throughout the late nineteenth century inventors submitted patent applications—and scale models of their ideas—to the Patent Office for review. These fascinating creations embody the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that fueled a golden age of American innovation in the 1800s. Today the Hagley Museum and Library is home to the largest private collection of these patent models in the world.

Our patent model sponsors help Hagley share these models, and their stories of innovation, to inspire the inventor in everyone.

You can play a crucial role in helping Hagley bring this extraordinary patent model collection to the world. Friends of Innovation sponsorships by individuals, families, and institutions supports exhibitions, education programs and the preservation of these unique treasures. Please contact development@hagley.org for information on becoming a Friend of Innovation.

Friends of Innovation


Patent

     Improvement in Stills for the Manufacture of Alcoholic Spirits
     Patentees: John & Joseph Beam, 1875
     Sponsored through the generosity of: Yvonne & Michael Dalton

     See the full patent model description in our Museum Collections here.

 

 


patent model

     Improvement in Boats for Duck Shooting
     Patentee: Robert Bogle, 1857
     Sponsored through the generosity of: Alexandra & Andrew Engel

     See the full patent model description in our Museum Collections here.

 

 


roller skate patent model

     Roller Skate
     Patentee: George Stillman, 1869
     In memory of: Stephen Little

     See the full patent model description in our Museum Collections here.

 


Patent sponsors

     Improvement in Fruit Jar Covers
     Patentee: John Mason, 1873
     Sponsored through the generosity of: Angela & Noel Williamson

 

 

 


Patent sponsors     Improvement in Machinery for Shaping Sheet Metal
     Patentee: Eliphalet Bliss, 1879
     Sponsored through the generosity of: Lucinda & Wally Judd

     See the full patent model description in our Museum Collections here.

 

 

 

 

 


Patent sponsor     Improvement in Electro-Magnetic Motors
     Patentee: Charles J. B. Gaume, 1874
     Sponsored through the generosity of: Anthony Raucci

     See the full patent model description in our Museum Collections here.

 

 


Canon firearm patent     Improvement in Fire-Arms
     Patentee: Charles Brown, 1860
     In memory of: Our friend and colleague, Wally Johnson, from Sharon and Matt Payne

     See the full patent model description in our Museum Collections here.

 

 


Locomotive patent model     Improvement in Locomotives
     Patentee: William Holdsworth, 1876
     Sponsored through the generosity of: Cover & Rossiter, P.A.

     See the full patent model description in our Museum Collections here.

 

 

 


Vessel brass patent     Improvement in Propulsion of Vessels
     Patentee: Emily Tassey, 1876
     Sponsored through the Generosity of: Lyons Companies