CURRICLE
Body painted dark green; gear green. Trimmed in tan broadcloth.
James W. Burgess in 1881 in his treatise on Coach-Building pointed out that in the last years of the 17th and in the early years of the 18th century “a vehicle much in fashion was the curricle, which had been in use for some time in Italy where it was suspended from leather braces. Springs were added by the French ... the English altered the shape, giving the back a graceful ogee curve, improved the hood and added a spring bar across the horses’ backs. It was a vehicle of easy draught, and could be driven at great speed. Unfortunately it was rather dangerous if the horses shied or stumbled, and this tended to reduce the demand for it, although Charles Dickens used one as soon as he could afford it, and Count D’Orsay had one made as late as 1836.”
This curricle, an extremely rare type of carriage, was built by Brewster and Company of New York just before the turn of the 20th century.
