[Description: “Phaeton with canopy”, draft by Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt der Ältere (the elder), 1745.] Johann Wilhelm Meil (1733-1805), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I know the image above is a phaeton and the vehicle below is a curricle, but when I saw this drawing, I couldn’t help but think that it was the very sort of carriage the scheming Miss de Bourgh from Becoming Entangled would drive. 🙂
“You are Alistair’s friend, are you not?”
He nodded.
“And you do know the counties of England, do you not?”
Again, he nodded.
She stood. “Then you will be perfect.” She paused, furrowed her brows, and pursed her lips as if uncertain about something. “Unless, of course, it is not something you are brave enough to do.”
His brows flew halfway to his hairline. “Is it dangerous?”
A small smile played on her lips. “Not if we do it correctly. Now, if you would be so kind as to help me back into my curricle, I must be on my way to the parsonage. I do not wish to be late. Mrs. Collins will be waiting.”
Leenie Brown fell in love with Jane Austen's works when she first read Sense and Sensibility followed immediately by Pride and Prejudice in her early teens. As the second of five daughters and an avid reader, she has always loved to see where her imagination takes her and to play with and write about the characters she meets along the way. In 2013, these two loves collided when she stumbled upon the world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction. A year later, in 2014, she began writing her own Austen-inspired stories and began publishing them in 2015. Leenie lives in Nova Scotia, Canada with her two teenage boys and her very own Mr. Brown (a wonderful mix of all the best of Darcy, Bingley and Edmund with healthy dose of the teasing Mr. Tillney and just a dash of the scolding Mr. Knightley).
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8 thoughts on “Phaeton with Canopy (c. 1755)”
Lovely drawing
I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I immediately thought of Anne de Bourgh. LOL! That would be something Lady Catherine would think worthy of her daughter. Oh-My-Gosh! That is just too ornate to be practical. Thanks for sharing this picture. Hope you are feeling better. Stay safe and healthy.
It’s just so her! LOL I can just see her zipping along the roads near Rosings 🙂 I seem to be getting better — slowly, very slowly 🙂
It must be my humble origins but my strongest reaction to that drawing is what a chore it would be to have to clean that every time Miss de Bourgh brought her phaeton back to the Rosings front door where a stable lad would take the reins. But the very first thought was how impractical the ‘canopy’ was. I assume it tilted to shade the driver’s face from the sun? There is some ‘stuff’ at the front I don’t understand the use of.
I’m cursing my short term memory right now but I haven’t a clue what J.W. Garrett referred to when she asked if you were feeling better. My gosh Leenie, I truly hope you are on the mend and you will progress more rapidly now than you mentioned above. You will be in my prayers.
Very catching excerpt above. Aww Girl, there are so many books I need to reread!
That stuff at the front is confusing to me as well. I wonder if anyone ever produced a carriage like this or if it only exists in a drawing? I’m guessing that whoever might have been wealthy enough to commission such an ornate vehicle likely was not concerned with practicality. LOL
I aggravated one of my herniated discs in my neck several weeks ago now. The inflammation has made it press on the nerves going to my right arm/hand/shoulder, which is very inconvenient when you are right-handed, let me tell you. LOL I have been getting some physio, osteo, and massage therapy treatments on it, and they have let me reduce my reliance on pain medicine, though not completely yet. I can now use my computer mouse and keyboard without too much issue or too many forced rest periods. At first, I couldn’t do much of anything, so I am much improved over that. It is taking its time getting better. (I think there might be an additional issue with my elbow that is not related to the neck. Up until the neck started to calm, we thought it was all from that. However, it seems to be a separate issue currently.) Thanks for the prayers! 🙂
Oh Leenie, you do know how to have fun! 🙁 And you need plenty of prayers, which I will be happy to add mine. Also plenty of TLC. How frustrating for you. Whenever I injure myself I always swing between feeling sorry for myself and being very angry at myself (like it was all my fault.) This does nothing to speed the healing process. (I’m a slow learner I don’t even learn my own lessons permanently.) Feel better! Heal swiftly! Feel those loving vibes coming your way from all your fans.
You had an observation I hadn’t thought of, that the phaeton never actually existed. And, yes you are right, I agree if it did get built the person driving it never thought about its practicality. 😀 I was just commiserating with the guys back in the carriage house. The stuff in the front looked too tiny and impractical for it to be a seat for a different driver. But I thought the area in the back might’ve been for a lady’s maid or tiger.
I’m a slow learner, too, when it comes to important lessons like “taking it easy will help you heal faster” 🙂 But I’ve been a pretty good patient this time (My husband would likely not agree, but compared to most times, I say I’m doing well! LOL)
That front spot looks terribly uncomfortable to try to perch on if driving. I really do wonder what it was meant to be for (other than decoration).
Lovely drawing
I’m happy you enjoyed it.
I immediately thought of Anne de Bourgh. LOL! That would be something Lady Catherine would think worthy of her daughter. Oh-My-Gosh! That is just too ornate to be practical. Thanks for sharing this picture. Hope you are feeling better. Stay safe and healthy.
It’s just so her! LOL I can just see her zipping along the roads near Rosings 🙂 I seem to be getting better — slowly, very slowly 🙂
It must be my humble origins but my strongest reaction to that drawing is what a chore it would be to have to clean that every time Miss de Bourgh brought her phaeton back to the Rosings front door where a stable lad would take the reins. But the very first thought was how impractical the ‘canopy’ was. I assume it tilted to shade the driver’s face from the sun? There is some ‘stuff’ at the front I don’t understand the use of.
I’m cursing my short term memory right now but I haven’t a clue what J.W. Garrett referred to when she asked if you were feeling better. My gosh Leenie, I truly hope you are on the mend and you will progress more rapidly now than you mentioned above. You will be in my prayers.
Very catching excerpt above. Aww Girl, there are so many books I need to reread!
That stuff at the front is confusing to me as well. I wonder if anyone ever produced a carriage like this or if it only exists in a drawing? I’m guessing that whoever might have been wealthy enough to commission such an ornate vehicle likely was not concerned with practicality. LOL
I aggravated one of my herniated discs in my neck several weeks ago now. The inflammation has made it press on the nerves going to my right arm/hand/shoulder, which is very inconvenient when you are right-handed, let me tell you. LOL I have been getting some physio, osteo, and massage therapy treatments on it, and they have let me reduce my reliance on pain medicine, though not completely yet. I can now use my computer mouse and keyboard without too much issue or too many forced rest periods. At first, I couldn’t do much of anything, so I am much improved over that. It is taking its time getting better. (I think there might be an additional issue with my elbow that is not related to the neck. Up until the neck started to calm, we thought it was all from that. However, it seems to be a separate issue currently.) Thanks for the prayers! 🙂
Oh Leenie, you do know how to have fun! 🙁 And you need plenty of prayers, which I will be happy to add mine. Also plenty of TLC. How frustrating for you. Whenever I injure myself I always swing between feeling sorry for myself and being very angry at myself (like it was all my fault.) This does nothing to speed the healing process. (I’m a slow learner I don’t even learn my own lessons permanently.) Feel better! Heal swiftly! Feel those loving vibes coming your way from all your fans.
You had an observation I hadn’t thought of, that the phaeton never actually existed. And, yes you are right, I agree if it did get built the person driving it never thought about its practicality. 😀 I was just commiserating with the guys back in the carriage house. The stuff in the front looked too tiny and impractical for it to be a seat for a different driver. But I thought the area in the back might’ve been for a lady’s maid or tiger.
I’m a slow learner, too, when it comes to important lessons like “taking it easy will help you heal faster” 🙂 But I’ve been a pretty good patient this time (My husband would likely not agree, but compared to most times, I say I’m doing well! LOL)
That front spot looks terribly uncomfortable to try to perch on if driving. I really do wonder what it was meant to be for (other than decoration).