Personal Calash à la Daumont

A carriage “à la Daumont” was a coach without a box
that was driven by mounted coachmen (jockeys). Open Daumont carriages were
considered especially elegant because the passengers’ view was obstructed
neither by a roof nor a coach box. The folding leather roof, which was intended
to protect the occupants during an unexpected shower, was normally folded back.
In fine weather Daumont carriages were used for rides in the city or the
Prater.

The court had numerous vehicles of this kind, of
course, among them this elegant calash (barouche), which Francis Joseph and
Elisabeth commissioned from the famous Milanese coach maker Cesare Sala three
years after their marriage. It was drawn by six white stallions from the
Imperial stud farms at Kladrub on the Elbe and served the imperial family as a summer
carriage for everyday use.

© Monica
Kurzel-Runtscheiner