Cart, Utility

Description

Hand cart. Painted gray. Three-sided wagon bed; tenon-jointed rails. Two 14-spoke wheels with iron tires. Rectangular extension, mortise and tenon jointed, one arm taped and reinforced with iron.

Notes

Designed to be pulled or pushed by hand in the fields, this cart would have been useful for hauling light items like tools, leaves, fruits or vegetables. It is easy to picture an image of this cart carrying six full apple baskets from the orchard. Each wheel has fourteen spokes that angle outward from the axle to the wheel rims. The cart is displayed in the exhibition galleries as it is shown here, bearing a food box that is thought to have been used in the fields at Canterbury. The pine box features a hinged lid and holds seven tin containers (#1964.14474.1). It is evident that some of the containers held something that left burn marks on the unpainted bottom of the lid.