Coaches of the nobility
Many families of the nobility owned coaches and carriages. They would have them designed in such a way to reflect their status and show off their wealth. For example, using their ancestral colours in the painted livery or applying family mottos and crests to the doors and bodywork.
We have two fine examples of such coaches in our collection, both dated to c. 1860. One is the State Coach bearing the arms of Sir H. Readett-Bayley of Hunmanby, who was once Deputy Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The other is the Town Chariot of the Earl of Yarborough, Brocklesby Park, Lincolnshire.
Both coaches are richly decorated in the livery colours of the family. Their interiors are padded woven textile, even on the ceiling and inside the doors! Each has a hammercloth cover over the coachman's seat at the front. This, too, is decorated with stitched ornamentation and tassels around the edges.
Of the two, the State Coach is the more ornate. It would have been reserved for civic ceremonies and driving to representations at the royal court. On these occasions, the coachman and two footmen wore state livery. This consisted of heavily braided velvet coats, knee breeches, white silk stockings and buckled shoes. They also wore curled and powdered wigs, with cocked hats for the footmen and a tricorn hat for the coachman. The footmen stood on a small platform at the back of the coach while the coachman controlled the horses at the front.
