Cutter, Albany

Object Name:

Cutter, Albany

Creator:

James Goold Company, Albany, NY

Date:

1800-1850

Dimensions:

W-76 L-95 inches

Description:

Gracefully-curved two-seated sleigh with leather skirts. The front seat is higher than the rear. There are carved eagles on top of the runners. There are metal step plates. This is an Albany-style cutter. It is a two-passenger vehicle with high open runners. The Albany-style is also called the "swell-body sleigh" because of its rounded form, both in the body shape and the curved dash. The name derives from ther original designer, James Goold, of Albany, New York. It came to be the second most popular winter passenger vehicle in the United States, after the Portland Cutter, (the design of which has straighter sides). Light and compact, it was frequently distinguished by more decorative elements, two eagle heads, as this model does. It was a deluxe winter passenger vehicle.
The scale and flowing lines of the sleigh give the viewer the feeling that, only for the want of a horse, this early sleigh is ready, in fact, anxious to move. You can almost feel the "nip in the air" and hear the sleigh bells jingle. Indeed, it is most pleasing to the eye and, in addition to being a family treasure, is one of the reasons that and other early conveyances survive long past the time when they were a necessity of life.

Subjects:

Transportation, Sleigh, New London

People:

Goold, James, White, Willis H.

Collection Name:

Transportation

Item Number:

1996.45.01

Accession Number:

1996.45.02

Type of Material:

Objects

Copyright Statement:

For information regarding copyright, permissions, and reproductions contact the New London Historical Society

Participating Organization:

New London Historical Society