A late 19th-century ‘galloping gig’ pushchair once used by Queen Victoria’s children at Osborne House is set to be auctioned next month.
The rare toy carriage, attributed to renowned toymakers George and Joseph Lines, will be offered by Woolley and Wallis in their Furniture, Works of Art and Clocks sale on Wednesday (2nd October), with an estimate of £1,200–£1,800.
Osborne House was a cherished retreat for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, purchased in 1845 and designed in an elegant Italianate style to their exact requirements. The Royal couple raised their children there and the Queen spent much of her later life at the estate, eventually passing away at Osborne in 1901.
The pushchair itself comprises a wicker seat with a pair of dappled grey horses at the front, which gallop up and down when pushed – a feat of late 19th-century toy-making. Measuring just over 1 metre in length, the piece reflects the playful spirit of Victorian childhood within the private world of the Royal family.
A photograph from the Royal Collection dated May 1899 shows Victoria’s great-grandsons – the future Edward VIII and George VI – playing in a similar design at Park Cottage, Windsor. The example now coming to auction was more recently housed in a private collection at The Grange in Wendover, Buckinghamshire.
Mark Yuan Richards, Furniture Specialist at Woolley and Wallis, said:
“This rare pushchair presents collectors and admirers of Royal history with a remarkable opportunity to acquire an object once owned by Queen Victoria herself. It embodies the playful spirit of the Victorian era and the private world of the Royal family and we therefore anticipate much interest from the UK and abroad.”
Lot 813 will be among the highlights when it goes under the hammer in Salisbury next month.”
This is wrong. It’s time English Heritage remembered they are custodians of national property. Artifacts such as this should not be sold into private ownership.
Read the article properly
I think it had already been sold into private ownership as the article says it has more recently been part of a collection at The Grange in Wendover, Buckinghamshire. Given the modest price estimate, one would hope that English Heritage would take this opporunity to return it to Osborne.
I read it twice abs I think your right. But it seems to just not tell the story right maybe.
Hopefully English Heritage will buy it for the the House and the nation instead of letting it go into a private collection !!
English Heritage must buy this for Osborne House and for the nation.
Estimate price is not out of reach for EH.