ca. 1650
The original hearses were simple open wagons on which the body was carried to the burial site. During the mid-seventeenth century, the first enclosed hearse was made somewhere in Wales. The driver’s seat was detached from the body of the carriage whish is heavily ornamented, often covered with statues and flowers for a variety of symbolic reasons. When picked up, the body of the deceased was put into a temporary, basketwork, casket and placed in the hearse with black wooden panels on the side and pulled down to hide the body. After the body was prepared, it was often brought to the home of the family to lie in state. This custom was much akin to the Irish wake or the Jewish Shiva which were used to allow friends and family to properly make their goodbyes. When the body was loaded into the hearse, colored plumes were placed on the wagon to signify the age of the deceased, adults with purple and children with white. The coffin would be unloaded from the hearse with the aid of rollers on the floor. The trap door on the bottom was opened to empty any flower petals that had fallen on the floor.
The hearses were uniquely intricate and involved in their building process. They often employed a designer, a Cartwright, a sculptor and any number of expert artisans. These wagons could take over a year to complete and were often considered works of art. Hearses were made in a large variety of styles including white hearses for children and bob-sled hearses for winter use.
This hearse was probably made in Birmingham, England since the name Birmingham appears on the wheels. It was acquired September 9, 1976 at a private sale in Dallas, Texas from Park Central Antiques. This piece required a huge amount of restoration on the windows, wood and gold. The wheels had to be sent to two different wheelwrights to be restored.