A phaeton (also phaéton) is a form of sporty open

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Drawn by one or two horses, a phaeton typically features a minimal very lightly sprung body atop four extravagantly large wheels. With open seating, it is 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 (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. 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 is the four-wheeled 'high-flyer', the body of which consists 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 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. The heavier mail phaeton, used chiefly to carry passengers with luggage and named after its construction, uses "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. ...

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 Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

, 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

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

owned two phaetons. Jefferson and

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

rode in Jefferson's phaeton during their tour of the Northeast in 1791, a total of 920 miles. They were accompanied by James Hemings.

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 January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

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 (19 April 1822 – 23 April 1900) was an English man who attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria in 1840. He was the first of seven unconnected people who tried to kill her between 1840 and 1882. Born and raised in Birmingham ...

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 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

each June from 1978 to 2011 during the official Queen's Birthday celebrations, when she travelled to and from

Trooping the Colour Trooping the Colour is a ceremonial event performed every year on Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom, by regiments of Household Division, to celebrate the King's Official Birthday, official birthday of the British sovereign, though t ...

Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large Military parade, parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at British national grid reference system, grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the K ...

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 The 1907 Tiflis bank robbery, also known as the Erivansky Square expropriation, was an armed robbery on 26 June 1907 in the city of Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia (country), Georgia) in the Tiflis Governorate in the Caucasus ...

Gallery

high%20flyer%20phaeton%20carriage%2C%201816.jpg, Phaeton 1816 with a pair of outsized, swan-neck rear leaf springs and high-mounted body File:Phaeton carriage1.jpg, A

jump seat A jump seat (sometimes spelled jumpseat) is an auxiliary seat in an automobile, train or aircraft, typically folding or spring-loaded to collapse out of the way when not used. The term originated in the United States c. 1860 for a movable car ...

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

MNC - Spider Phaeton.
Museu Nacional dos Coches (National Coach Museum), Lisbon, Portugal {{Horse-drawn carriages, state=expanded Carriages

Types

Use

Gallery

See also

References

External links