Belvedere's High Flyer, Fast & Dangerous!!

Spider Phaeton (carriage)

Phaeton is the early 19th-century term for a sporty carriage drawn by a single horse or a pair, typically with four extravagantly large wheels, very lightly sprung, with a minimal body, fast and dangerous. It usually had no sidepieces in front of the seats.

The rather self-consciously classicizing name refers to the disastrous ride of mythical Phaeton, son of Helios, who set the earth on fire while attempting to drive the chariot of the sun.

The most spectacular phaeton was the English four-wheeled high flyer. The mail and spider phaetons were much more reasonably constructed. The mail phaeton was used chiefly to convey passengers with luggage and was named for its construction, using mail springs originally designed for use on mail coaches. The spider phaeton, of American origin and made for gentlemen drivers, had a very high carriage of light construction, with a covered seat in front and a footman’s seat behind. Fashionable phaetons used at horse shows included the Stanhope, typically having a high seat and closed back, and the Tilbury, a light two-wheeled carriage with an elaborate spring suspension system, with or without a top.

A very fine example of a Spider Phaeton carriage is now on display in Belvedere's Visitor Centre

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