Victoria_(carriage)

Victoria (carriage)

Victoria (carriage)

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The victoria is an elegant style of doorless four-wheeled open carriage, drawn by one or two horses, based on the phaeton with the addition of a coachman's seat at the front, and with a retractable roof over the passenger bench.

Victoria in the Palace of Cortés, Cuernavaca, Mexico

Named for Queen Victoria,[1][2] it was possibly based on a phaeton made for George IV.[3] The type was made some time before 1844, but acquired the name victoria around 1860, and was being presented as such at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.[4] Drawn by one or two horses, it became a fashionable style of carriage for ladies riding in the park.[3]

The victoria has a low body with a forward-facing seat for two passengers under a retractable calash top and a raised driver's seat on an iron frame.[3] In the panel-boot type of victoria, sometimes confusingly called a cabriolet,[2] a box under the driver's seat provides storage, a "boot", and forms a dashboard.[3] In a Grand Victoria, a collapsible backwards-facing seat behind the driver accommodates additional passengers; the Victoria-Hansom was a later form of hansom cab based on the victoria.[2]

The Ford Crown Victoria takes its name from the carriage. It has been used as a generic term for light horse carriages in Mumbai.[citation needed]

Victorias

Panel-boot victorias

See also


References

  1. Farrell, Jeremy (1985). Umbrellas & Parasols. Costume Accessories. London: BT Batsford. p. 38. ISBN 9780713448740. Princess Victoria gave her name to a type of coachman-driven phaeton. According to Farrell, it was introduced and named in the 1830s.
  2. "Victoria: French carriage". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 July 1998. Retrieved 7 July 2022. According to Britannica, it developed in France.
  3. The Dutch coach builder Hermans sent a 'victoria' to the Exhibition, Campo, J.W. del (1864). Verslag der Wereldtentoonstelling te Londen in 1862. ’s Gravenhage: Van Langenhuysen..
  • Media related to Victorias at Wikimedia Commons

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