Horse-drawn Carriage Models
Dear Visitor,
My name is Béla Kozma, born in 1945 in Budapest, Hungary. Trained originally as a turner, I later learned to restore antique furniture professionally.
I became interested in the construction of model carts and coaches at an early age, however it was over 30 years before I produced my own first model in 1985.
Now that I have been constructing models for over 20 years, I can reproduce practically any wooden horse-drawn vehicle model.
Four of My Works
Cart of the Great Hungarian Plain
This type of cart first appeared in the late 18th to early 19th century. It was suitable for carrying heavy loads on long journeys.
The scale of this model is 1:10. Built of 120 wooden and 134 metal pieces, it took about 300 hours to construct.
Length: 40 cm (16 inches)
Width: 20 cm (8 inches)
Height: 14 cm (5.5 inches)
French Hunting Carriage
This was a tall, lightweight, open carriage that required excellent skill to drive because of the speeds it could attain. The boot of this carriage was designed to store the kill for ease in transport.
This model is also made of wood and metal. It took about 420 hours to build. Scale: 1:10.
Length: 35 cm (14 inches)
Width: 20 cm (8 inches)
Height: 23 cm (9 inches)
Diligence Stagecoach
I built two of this so-called Diligence Stagecoach (scaled 1:5) since 2002. One is currently on display in the Postal Museum of Budapest. The other model can be viewed in the Postal Museum of Kőszeg.
From the 1750's, the Diligence, which was drawn by four horses, carried passengers, money and luggage. It regularly traveled on scheduled fixed routes.
This carriage was far more comfortable than its forerunners for it was designed using "C springs" making the otherwise unpleasant bumpy roads more bearable. Instead of wooden benches, the seats were padded and covered with velvet. The leather bags on its sides were used for storing papers and letters, and the whole coach had grating around its top to protect luggage from falling off.
This model took about 1120 hours to make.
Length: 80 cm (32 inches)
Width: 45 cm (18 inches)
Height: 45 cm (18 inches)
Cart of Kocs
According to certain records, King Mátyás instructed the first cart to be built in the Hungarian village of Kocs. At that time, the cart came to be known as the Kocs, named for the village. Its use rapidly spread all through the country because the vehicle provided personal transport that was capable of fast travel.
Its seats were covered with sheepskin and the area beneath was used for stowing luggage. The passenger compartment was woven of willow-twigs. This model Cart of Kocs* is also on display in the Postal Museum of Kőszeg. It took 780 hours to build in 1:5 scale.
Elkészítési ideje 780 óra.
Length: 70 cm (28 inches)
Width: 40 cm (16 inches)
Height: 40 cm (16 inches)
If you are interested in having your own carriage model built for display, send me a mail. Let me know what you want. I'll build it for you.
And finally something interesting:
The origin of the word "coach" *Kocsi Coach: From kocsi. Named after the village Kocs where this type of vehicle was first made. Kocsi means from Kocs. The story of "coach" begins in Hungary in the 15th century. There, the horse-drawn carriages produced by the Hungarian craftsmen of the village of Kocs were highly favoured by European nobility and were known in Hungarian as "kocsi szeker" (literally "cart of Kocs"). It's been said that the Kocs carriage factories were the first to employ a spring suspension making the bumpy roads far more bearable.
The popularity of the "kocsi szeker" (cart of Kocs) was such all over Europe that the word "kocsi" was taken into several European languages for such vehicles. It was from the French form "coche" that English developed "coach."
Thank you for your visit.