Governess-cart

[igenlode]

The vehicle that I've called a 'governess-cart' is the little two-wheeled pony-carriage known to Raoul as a demi-tonneau (a name akin in form to the English 'tub-cart'?)



(Click for modern photos of demi-tonneau awaiting restoration)

It seats two adults in comfort and two adults plus children at a pinch -- with Christine, Félix and Victoire accompanying Hippolyte, the driver, you can imagine things getting quite crowded, especially when Victoire gets excited :-D

Comments

[igenlode]

You're right; in this example (and in the painting, I think) the bottom of the body appears to be supported on a level with the hubs of the wheels, with a big space left above the actual dropped axle. Which seems a bit pointless, really.
(Perhaps it simply lowers the weight of the wrought-iron axle itself to a safer level?)

Here's a picture of a tub-cart type vehicle where the hubs are actually in the middle of the body, from Wikipedia...

[watervole]

That's interesting. The tub is below hub level, but the dropped axle is below that, so there must be some technical reason why the body has to be well above the axle.

[igenlode]

Maybe to allow for bouncing on the springs? I'm not immediately clear whether the leaf spring set-up allows for the body to go below the level at which it starts...

[watervole]

That might be it.