Carriage cushion
Category
Vehicle parts & accessories
Date
1870
Materials
Horsehair, Horse-hair, Leather, Metal
Measurements
60 x 210 mm; 710 mm (Length)
Order this imageCollection
National Trust Carriage Museum
NT 272914.2.3
Summary
Black buttoned leather cushion, one of three, for the exterior front facing seat of the 4-wheeled, iron shod, Miniature Road Coach 1870 (circa) built for Charles Stratton, also known as 'General Tom Thumb' for use in Barnum's Circus during their tour of England in 1865.
Full description
This unique vehicle was built for Charles Stratton, also known as 'General Tom Thumb'. Stratton was born in the United States in Bridgeport, Connecticut on 4 January 1838, and died on 15 July 1883 in Middleboro, Massachusetts. Ultimately growing to a height of 40 inches (1 metre), he became famous under the name 'General Tom Thumb' while touring the United States and Europe as a star of P.T. Barnum’s ‘American Museum’. This carriage was probably used by Stratton during one of his four English tours. It was driven by Stratton, and like the full-size private drag, could seat up to twelve passengers on the roof and four inside. This coach was purchased in 1894 by Alfred Ash for his 5 year old son, Graham Baron Ash, later the donor of Packwood House in Warwickshire, to The National Trust in 1941.
Provenance
Purchased in 1904 by Mr. Alfred Ash for his son, Graham Baron Ash, and later inherited by his daughter, Mrs. H.E. Mellor, and granddaughter, Miss B.Y. Mellor. The coach was formerly on display at Packwood and with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust at Wilmcote.