Victoria in the Palace of Cortés, Cuernavaca, Mexico

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.

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 1870,[4] after one was imported to England by Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, in 1869. 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.

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. 1 2 3 "Victoria: French carriage". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 July 1998. Retrieved 7 July 2022. According to Britannica, it developed in France.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Carriage Tour: Victoria". Carriage Association of America. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Victoria. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |work= ignored (help)
  • Media related to Victorias at Wikimedia Commons
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.