In May 1767, during her official trip to the central provinces of the Russian Empire, Catherine the Great spent five days in Kazan.
Carriage
Creation period
18th century
Dimensions
280x600x600 cm
height – 280 cm, length – 600 cm
height – 280 cm, length – 600 cm
Technique
artisan made
Exhibition
1
Open in app#1
Carriage
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Historians believe that the Empress stayed at the stone mansion of the merchant Ivan Osokin, a cloth manufacturer. The triumphal arch that was erected in front of the house in honour of her visit had three spans, a dome and galleries. She described the mansion where she stayed as havin:
‘An enfilade of nine chambers upholstered in silk, with gilded armchairs and canapé sofas, and console mirrors with marble tables’.
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While staying there, Catherine the Great visited the weaving mill and the seminary, the estates of Archbishop Benjamin and Governor Kvashnin-Samarin, the Annunciation Cathedral, prayed at the Kazan Convent of the Theotokos and donated two diamond crowns for the icon of Our Lady of Kazan and the icon of Christ the Savior.
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She used a carriage to move around Kazan and the adjacent lands. This is how the newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti described the carriage procession:
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‘Her Majesty’s carriage was pulled by an eight horse hitch, with a groom walking next to each horse. In front of the horses there walked four court footmen and two moors, three of them on either side; alongside the carriage marched eight haiduks, four on each side. The carriage was followed by a regiment of horse guards’.
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When leaving the city, the Empress did not take the carriage with her. Presumably, she presented it to the Archbishop of Kazan and Sviyazh Benjamin. Historians have not yet found any record of this. However, it is known for certain that already at the end of the 19th century the Kazan Archbishop Pavel handed Catherine’s carriage over to the city authorities, who, in turn, assigned it to the Kazan Scientific and Industrial Museum.
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This carriage was not in the list of things that accompanied Catherine the Great during her trip to Kazan. For that reason, some historians believe that it was built by local masters from Kazan whose names have not been preserved. They suggest that the carriage represents one of the first full-dress carriages of the kind made in Russia, since until the 18th century, they were brought to Russia from Europe.
However, some historians argue that the design and the construction of the carriage resemble those of carriages made in France. It is made of several types of wood: oak, birch, linden and pine. Its doors, the body and some parts are decorated with carved gilded reliefs and rococo and baroque ornaments, popular in France in the 18th century. The inside of the carriage including the seats is lined and upholstered with velvet, while the bottom and the top are covered with leather.
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National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan
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Carriage
Creation period
18th century
Dimensions
280x600x600 cm
height – 280 cm, length – 600 cm
height – 280 cm, length – 600 cm
Technique
artisan made
Exhibition
1
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