Calash

Article on other languages:

• Kalesche
• Kaless
• Calesa
• Calèche
• Caleche
• Carruzzedda
• Kalesa

	del.icio.us
	Digg
	Furl
	Reddit
	Rojo
	Add to OnlyWire

A two-wheeled calash

A barouche, developed from the calash of the 18th century,^[1] was a fashionable type of horse-drawn carriage in the 19th century. It was a four-wheeled, shallow vehicle with two double seats inside, arranged so that the sitters on the front seat faced those on the back seat. It had a collapsible half-hood folding like a bellows over the back seat and an outside box seat high in front for the driver. The entire carriage was suspended on C springs. It was drawn by a pair of high-quality horses and was used principally for leisure driving in the summer. A light barouche was a barouchet or barouchette.

A four-wheeled calash to be drawn by a pair (Podstreda Castle)

The word barouche is an anglicisation of the German word barutsche, via the Italian baroccio or biroccio and ultimately from the Latin birotus, "two-wheeled". The name thus became a misnomer, as the later form of the carriage had four wheels.

Calash

The earlier carriage type, called calash or caleche, was also a light carriage with small wheels, inside seats for four passengers, a separate driver's seat and a folding top. A folding calash top was a feature of two other types: the chaise, a two-wheeled carriage for one or two persons, a body hung on leather straps or thorough-braces, usually drawn by one horse; and a victoria, a low four-wheel pleasure carriage for two with a raised seat in front for the driver.

In Quebec, Canada, calèche refers to a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle with or without a folding top and with a driver's seat on the splashboard.^[2] In the Philippines, a small two-wheeled calash is called a kalesa or calesa.

Notes

1. ^ Casanova mentions a calèche à 2 roues first in 1742, a calèche à 4 roues in 1758 (Gunther)
2. ^ Musée McCord Museum - Caleche, Dufferin Terrace, Quebec City, QC, about 1920. McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal, Quebec.

Look up Barouche in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

• B1499 Horse-drawn carriage, barouche, timber / metal / glass / leather / textile, made by Shanks and Co, London, England, used by John Brown Watt in Sydney before 1888 - Powerhouse Museum Collection. Search barouche. Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
• Barouche: Definition with Barouche Pictures and Photos. Lexicus.
• Freesound :: view sample :: CalecheDownAlley.wav. Institut Universitari de l'Audiovisual (Institute of Audiovisual Studies), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Sound file.
• Pablo Günther, "The Casanova Tour": two-wheeled carriages". Chair, chaise and calash.
• What is a Barouche? wiseGEEK.