Chariot D'Orsay

The term chariot was applied in ancient times to two-wheel vehicles used for war, for racing, and for ceremony. About 1650 the name was resurrected and applied to elegant half-coaches characterized by an elevated body and high wheels. Lighter and less expensive than full coaches, chariots were popular luxury vehicles in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This version was named after its designer, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel Count D'Orsay (1801-1852) and was owned by William K. Vanderbilt, a member of the New York Coaching Club and a noted whip, who resided in New York City and on Long Island.