Two-seater festive mule-litter

Until the coming of the railway mule litters were popular and secure travel vehicles. Upholstered in red leather and with gold-plated nails, this festive travel litter of the Vienna court was mainly used to transport the archduke’s hat between the abbey of Klosterneuburg and St. Stephen’s in Vienna for the ceremony of paying homage to the heir. It was carried by two mules. © Monica Kurzel-Runtscheiner: Crane Neck and Gold Crepine. Courtly Splendour and Contemporary art – a confrontation, Exhibition Catalogue, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna 2004