Established in 1790 by Thomas Jefferson, the U.S. Patent Office required inventors to submit a working, scale model of their invention with their application. These models were usually no larger than 12 square inches. This continued through the Industrial Revolution, but later ceased when the U.S. Patent Office no longer had room to store the models.

A patent is a government-issued document that protects an invention or idea for up to twenty years. This allows the inventor the opportunity to produce and sell the invention - or license others to do so - and to make a profit. Though, "patent model" is unfamiliar in today's society, it was common to inventors between 1790 and the late 1800s.

"The Curious World of Patent Models" will show approximately 50 models with interpretive labels that will include the history of each individual patent and the inventor. These original artifacts range from intricately crafted miniature weaving looms to common swing sets

Most of the models in this collection were made by professional model makers and are more than 130 years old. The oldest model in the Rothschild Collection is from 1809 and is maintained in perfect working order. Some of these models were produced and sold while others made it no farther than the patent model stage.

The Rothschild Patent Model Collection is currently located in a custom-designed facility in Cazenovia, New York. The entire collection contains around 4,000 patent models and related documents. This is the largest private collection of viewable United States patent models in the world.