Clarence

Clarence is an outgoing coach for three people, for a two-horse or four-horse team in a collar harness, manufactured in the well-known vehicle factory of Józef Goliński in Warsaw. Purchased by the Castle Museum in Łańcut for the Museum Vehicle Collection, it is largely preserved in its original state. Clarence is a variant of the coupé coach which, in its enlarged front section, is equipped with an additional narrow backward-facing bench occupied by a third, usually young person or child. This coach was named after the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV of England. In German-speaking countries, this type of coach is called Dreiviertel Coupé. Due to the enlarged box, clarence became very popular and widely used vehicle, however it was confused with the coupé and also named that way. The clarence from the Łańcut collection – amassed by the Castle Museum since the late 1940s and being under constant development – is one of several carriages of this type, but one of the few acquired vehicles preserved largely in its original state and not subject to any renovation work. Original parts include the interior upholstered in navy blue English flannel and trimmed in navy blue haberdashery, with a strikingly quilted main seat backrest and walls. Only the upholstery of the mattress of the main seat and the bench is non-original, as well as that of the coachman seat (before being included into the Łańcut museum, the carriage was used during wedding ceremonies). Moreover, no lanterns have survived. At the footrest of the box coachman seat with original leather front mudguard, there is a manufacturer’s plaque: „MANUFACTURE DE VOITURE/J. GOLIŃSKI/ VARSOVIE LESZNO 36”. Aldona Cholewianka-Kruszyńska