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 ...

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 mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

, 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 Thomas Warwick (or Warrick) was a poet and unbeneficed clergyman of Cornish origin, born about 1755, died after 1785. He took part in the revival of the sonnet form at the end of the 18th century and his other writing included odes and poems on me ...

was thrown to his death near the fashionable town of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

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 coaches. 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 anc ...

, 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'', 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 her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

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 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 durin ...

each June from 1978 to 2011 during the official Queen's Birthday celebrations, when she traveled to and from Trooping the Colour 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. H ...

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, 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 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 File:Phaeton (PSF).png, A typical phaeton File:Garden phaeton.jpg

References

External links

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

Types

Use

Gallery

See also

References

External links