19th Century Calash Buggy: Barouche Built For German Royalty – CCR890

There Is No Going To The Store For Parts Needed To Restore This Calash

If This Calash Is To Be Road Worthy Again And Authentic – Every part necessary must be hand made in the same hand as it was made in in 1840. Each piece of broken wood would have to be hand bent or shaped by the hands of a master wood worker. The pitch coated leather top and horse hair filled tuck button upholstery was made by a master of leather work and hand stitched fabrics in the 1840s. In the 1840s – and today – there were no going to the store to get the parts you need to create such a piece. Each piece would have to be made by hand from scratch. This carriage was built by German master craftsman of the 19th century to stand the test of time.

MancaveArtCollectibles.com is a company manufacturing in the 21st Century in the same hand as any carriage company of high reputation would have been operating in the 18th and 19th century. Our master blacksmiths, millwrights, wheelwrights, and leather smiths are classically trained in the art of in iron working, wood working and upholstery etc. All iron parts are hand forged by our master blacksmiths using a hot forge, anvil and hammer in the same hand as in 1840. No details are left out and there are no cheap casting or so called drop metal faux forged parts. All wooden parts are also reproduced in the same hand as the original work.

As with this Calash we only build proud to own family heirloom furnishing, rich with family history and priceless heritage that become cherished family heirlooms that are guaranteed to stand the test of time in the same way this 168 year old carriage demonstrates.

What Is A Barouche / Calash?

A Barouche/Calash, developed from the calash of the 18th century, was a fashionable type of horse-drawn carriage in the 19th century. It was a four-wheeled, shallow vehicle with two double seats inside, arranged so that the sitters on the front seat faced those on the back seat. It had a collapsible half-hood folding like a bellows over the back seat and an outside box seat high in front for the driver. The entire carriage was suspended on C springs. It was drawn by a pair of high-quality horses and was used principally for leisure driving in the summer.

A light barouche was a barouchet or barouchette. A four-wheeled calash to be drawn by a pair. The word barouche is an anglicisation of the German word barutsche, via the Italian baroccio or biroccio and ultimately from the Latin birotus, “two-wheeled”. The name thus became a misnomer, as the later form of the carriage had four wheels. Calash – The earlier carriage type, called calash or caleche, was also a light carriage with small wheels, inside seats for four passengers, a separate driver’s seat and a folding top. A folding calash top was a feature of two other types: the chaise, a two-wheeled carriage for one or two persons, a body hung on leather straps or thorough-braces, usually drawn by one horse; and a victoria, a low four-wheel pleasure carriage for two with a raised seat in front for the driver. In Quebec, Canada, calche refers to a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle with or without a folding top and with a driver’s seat on the splashboard.

Photos As Shown Above: The condition of our 168 year old re-build project arriving at our dock – and the finished restoration with original various natural wear and tear patina.

This rare calash hand built in Germany in 1840 is one of a kind. It is a original one of a kind because it was built to someone’s exact specifications fitted with sleigh runners for snow as well as wheels (we are told there is no other exactly like this one anywhere in the world).

This Calash was probably built for a wealthy European family or royalty. Evidenced by the fact this type of carriage required a driver. The top of this carriage is hand pitched genuine leather and is hand edged in solid brass. The cushions are probably original 1840, upon our inspection they were filled with straw and horsehair. The button tuck was all hand stitched in the same manner as we upholster today at ArtFactory.com using master seamstress and leather smiths.

All of the wood for the body and fenders is hand steam bent, old growth lumber and hand finished (including 5-8 coats of hand applied paint added over the original oil finish in different colors over the 168 years). Notice the sleigh runners are cut from one piece of old growth timber no joints or seams. The sleigh runners seem to be the original finish. The wheels were hand made from match grained hard wood and the forge iron was hand fitted to the expansion of the wheels.

All the wrought iron hubs and tread, iron parts,and sleigh runners were hand forged using the only methods available at the time in 1840. A anvil, hot forge, and the arm of a master blacksmith in the same way our master blacksmiths work today at ArtFactory.com. Each connecting piece, springs, axles, hubs, breaks and lanterns etc. were also hand forged in the same manor. Proving once again that when it is built to world class quality it will always stand the test of time. In this case even though it was not cared for for many years.