1880s Horse Tricycle with Wooden Wheels (French)
Handle Operated; chain to sprocket on rear axle
Cast Iron Head, Wooden Body
15″ Wheels with metal band ‘tyres’
LENGTH: 31″
WIDTH: 17.5″
HEIGHT: 29″
For Minor Restoration
This is the dominant style of 1800s French horse tricycle, with a cast iron head fitted to a wooden body, and operated by handles connected by chain to the rear axle. This example has 15″ wooden wheels, with metal banded ‘tyres’ like 1860s velocipedes. I assume it to be from the 1880s.
It needs some minor jobs doing to it if you wish to keep it in original unrestored condition: a handle turning up on a lathe to match the other one, a length of chain, and some horsehair to make a mane and tail. Then a good cleaning of the wheels to remove odd bits of paint. Its structure (both the horse and the wheels) is sound and it would not take much to turn this into a very presentable reminder of the 1880s …especially with a copy of Monet’s painting hanging on the wall behind it.
On this style of horse, the front fork bolts to a cast iron fitting that’s screwed under the front of the horse’s body. I’ve illustrated this in one of the photos as cast iron fittings are an indicator of authentic early production (though all the forgeries have the same rear frame casting).
Many modern replicas have been made in Eastern Europe and Asia and are aged to try to disguise their modernity; they are passed off by unscrupulous auctioneers and antique shops as original. You can often tell the difference if you see welded parts, more modern fittings or modern screws. But sometimes it can be confusing, as many originals have often been repaired over the years. I would only advertise a horse tricycle if it is in original unrestored condition, like this one.
WOODEN WHEELS: In 1872, Claude Monet painted a portrait of his son Jean on his horse tricycle. The example owned by the Monet family had wooden wheels, similar to adult velocipedes that became popular in France in the 1860s.
METAL WHEELS: The next development of this popular French toy was the fitting of metal rims without tyres.
SOLID RUBBER TYRES: Some makers fitted solid rubber tyres to their children’s tricycles with metal wheels before the end of the century; I’ve seen them advertised as an option in an 1895 Gamage catalogue. Solid rubber tyres were not new – Michaux & Cie fitted them to their adult velocipedes in 1868.
FRENCH v ENGLISH STYLE: The English juvenile horse tricycle design usually had a handlebar vertically mounted through the horse head or neck, and pedals in the front wheel – velocipede style. The most common early French design was chain driven and motivated by handles horizontally mounted through the horse’s head.
UNDERNEATH THE 1880s HORSE TRICYCLE
