Phaeton (carriage)
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A phaeton (also phaéton) was a form of sporty open
carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...
popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Drawn by one or two horses, a phaeton typically featured a minimal very lightly sprung body atop four extravagantly large wheels. With open seating, it was both fast and dangerous, giving rise to its name, drawn from the mythical Phaëthon, son of
Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyper ...
, who nearly set the Earth on fire while attempting to drive the chariot of the Sun. With the advent of the automobile, the term was adopted to refer to open touring cars, which were in consequence referred to as phaeton-bodied.


Types

The most impressive but dangerous phaeton was the four-wheeled 'high-flyer', the body of which consisted of a light seat perched above two sets of springs. It was from one of these that the rising poet Thomas Warwick was thrown to his death near the fashionable town of Bath during the 1780s. There was also the heavier mail phaeton used chiefly to carry passengers with luggage and named for its construction, using "mail" springs originally designed for use on
mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. M ...
es. The spider phaeton, of American origin and made for gentlemen drivers, was a high and lightly constructed carriage with a covered seat in front and a
footman A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...
's seat behind. Fashionable phaetons used at horse shows included the Stanhope, typically having a high seat and closed back, and the
Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...
, a two-wheeled carriage with an elaborate spring suspension system, with or without a top. A variation of this type of a carriage is called a ''
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
'', with a retractable cover over the rear passenger compartment.


Use

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
was particularly associated with the phaeton and there are prints and photos of her driving in them both before and throughout her reign. Its openness put her in danger and there were assassination attempts made on her life while in one by
Edward Oxford Edward Oxford (18 April 1822 – 23 April 1900) was the first of seven people who tried to assassinate Queen Victoria. After Oxford was arrested and charged with treason, a jury found that Oxford was not guilty by reason of insanity and he ...
in 1840 and by Henry Holford in 1846. In her later years she enjoyed travelling in a phaeton drawn by a single donkey or mule, and there are examples of this type in the Royal Collection. Another was put to use by Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
each June from 1978 to 2011 during the official
Queen's Birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...
celebrations, when she traveled to and from
Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed every year in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of the British Army. Similar events are held in other countries of the Commonwealth. Trooping the Colour has been a tradition of British infantry regi ...
on
Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat. Hi ...
in an ivory-mounted phaeton carriage made in 1842 for her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. A social statement of a different kind was made during the 1880s by
Valerie, Lady Meux Valerie Susan, Lady Meux (pronounced "Mews"; ; 1852–1910), was a Devon-born socialite of the Victorian era. She was the wife of Sir Henry Bruce Meux, 3rd Baronet (1856–1900), who came from one of Britain’s richest brewing dynasties, Meux ...
, who defied London Society by driving herself in a high phaeton drawn by zebras. Yet another was the use of such carriages by revolutionaries to carry out the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery.


Gallery

high%20flyer%20phaeton%20carriage%2C%201816.jpg, Phaeton 1816 with a pair of outsized, swan-neck leaf springs at the rear and the body mounted daringly high File:Phaeton carriage1.jpg, A
jump seat In aviation, a jump seat or jumpseat is an auxiliary seat for individuals—other than normal passengers—who are not operating the aircraft. In general, the term 'jump seat' can also refer to a seat in any type of vehicle which can fold up out ...
phaeton File:Phaeton carriage3.jpg, Another view of the same jump seat phaeton File:Phaeton de Cabeca - Arreda.JPG, Phaeton carriage in Geraz do Lima Carriage museum File:Museo del Bicentenario - Phaeton, de Hipólito Yrigoyen.jpg, Argentine Presidential Phaeton in the Museo del Bicentenario, Buenos Aires File:Phaeton DSC02050.JPG, A phaeton File:John Henry Walker13a.jpg, Basket phaeton engraved by
John Henry Walker John Henry Walker (1831–1899), a pioneer Canadian engraver and illustrator, was from County Antrim in Northern Ireland and as a young boy emigrated in 1842 to Canada with his family, settling in Toronto, Upper Canada. In 1845 he was apprent ...
File:Phaeton (PSF).png, A typical phaeton File:Garden phaeton.jpg


See also

*
Carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...
*
Volkswagen Phaeton The Volkswagen Phaeton ( ) (''Typ'' 3D) is a full-size luxury sedan/saloon manufactured by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen, described by Volkswagen as their "premium class" vehicle. Introduced at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show, the ...


References


External links

{{Commonscat, Phaetons
MNC - Spider Phaeton.
Museu Nacional dos Coches (National Coach Museum), Lisbon, Portugal Carriages