This artifact built in 1799 which basically consists of a tall, vertical oak frame fitted with a heavy steel blad with an oblique cutting edge and suspended from the top, was designed for a rapid execution by decapitation of those who were condemned to death in the Swiss canton of Geneva during the French period. Today it is part of the Permanent Collection at the Tavel House, the oldest building in Geneva.
The guillotin is that artifact used to carry out the capital punishment, especially during the French Revolution and so-called after the politician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed the use of a device to carry out executions as a less painful way respect to other alternatives previously used. This item exhibited in the Tavel House was restored in the early 20th century and which original elements has been incorporated, was usually installed in the Place de Neuve in Geneva when it was required during the years of occupation by Revolutionary France, from 1798 to 1814. Then thirty-six prisoners were executed using this method. The artifact was designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading when a sharp blad was released decapitating the victim instantly by a clean and precise cutting, fell the head then into a basket below. When the Republic was restored in 1813 the guillotine was only used six more times until the death penalty was finally abolished in 1871, that is, 110 years before France
