Enfilade

Samuel Butler (designed by William Chambers), Gold State Coach, 1762 (Royal Collection, 5000048). The panels were painted by Giovanni Cipriani. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, July 2009). 

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From Salon: Society of Antiquaries Online Newsletter 352 (2 November 2015) . . .

Julian Munby FSA, Head of Buildings Archaeology at Oxford Archaeology (and, he says, “a Fellow who has written about Queen Elizabeth’s carriages, and studied the English coach in the Kremlin”), writes about a new venture to record historic carriages:

“Historic carriages are a curiously neglected part of our heritage, while they include some of the most superbly designed and decorated examples of furniture on wheels, whether in museums or private collections. The newly launched Carriages of Britain (COB) project aims to create an online database of all historic horse-drawn carriages in collections throughout the UK. On Friday 30 October, in a truly glittering event at the Royal Mews, standing beside the Gold State Coach (1762), Colin Henderson, lately the Queen’s Head Coachman, announced that The Carriage Foundation, founded by enthusiasts for horse-drawn vehicles in 1991, has become a registered charity to promote interest and expertise in carriages through educational resources, publications and study days. In addition to developing historical information through the COB database, the foundation will also explore the foundation of a national carriage museum. Those interested in supporting through membership and donation can contact The Carriage Foundation.”

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From In Harness (August/September 2015), p. 5:

[The Carriage Foundation] now aims to manage, support and seek funding for various carriage related projects. Initially a website will be created which will host the first major project: Carriages of Britain. The project will consist of a searchable and illustrated database of carriages within UK collections, essays, and a photographic archive. Initial work has identified over 1200 carriages in publically accessible collections which will all have an entry on the database. Carriages of Britain will become the first port of call for anyone wishing to research horse drawn vehicles. Further developing our work, The Carriage Foundation are hosting a series of study days through the winter as well as the two established study tours. Long term plans are to explore the possibility of founding a National Carriage Museum.

For more information, contact thecarriagefoundation@yahoo.co.uk.