The Frick Museum

In June, I went to The Frick in Pittsburgh, PA. I was in Pittsburgh for a conference with my boss, but coming early meant being able to explore!

The Frick Museum opened to the public in 1990, and was formed around the Frick family's home. Henry Clay Frick amassed a considerable amount of artwork through his life (and after becoming wealthy) and collected a varied style of prominent artists. The museum also hosts visiting exhibits.
This painting is called Portrait of an Extraordinary Musical Dog by Philip Reinagle. Information about the piece said Reinagle "seemingly appropriated a pose from a portrait of Mozart to depict a spaniel playing a Broadwood square piano." It was an adorable painting!

 We wandered the grounds and found a soundly sleeping museum cat.

We entered the gift shop which housed some pieces of tack. This is a 20th century bridle. There was a sidesaddle, but the picture didn't come out great. 

The Car and Carriage Museum ended up being our last stop.

The room was full of interesting carriages 

 and cars.

The carriages were beautiful. 

There were also different riding outfits. This is a circa 1895 Women's Two-piece Day Suit. Look at the sleeves! The information sheet said:

Dress embellishment in the 1890s decreased as upper-class women chose to use expensive and tragic fabrics to differentiate themselves from the working classes. Women's clothing moved away from the garish shades of the previous decades towards hues that were soft and subtle, with a preference for pale shades such as grey and mauve......Sleeves moved away from a tighter fit and puffed up to enormous proportions. 

This is an Outing Wagon from circa 1906. It was created for and by wealthy people. Only one horse drove it. The carriage showed less dust and wear from traveling so unrefined wood and tan upholstery was used. 

I loved the reasoning behind this one! This is a Chubb Phaeton, circa 1908. This was often used as a grandstand at polo matches. The carriage would be pulled up to the field and guests have great seats to view the field. There was a hinged dear that would be used as a table. Tail-gaiting before it was a common weekend thing!

This is a Four-Spring Basket Phaeton, circa 1903. This was referred to as a Ladies Wicker and was popular on resorts because of their design. Because of the fringe and light colored upholstery, this was driven primarily by women. 

I loved this circa 1900 Bobsled. Bells adorned the horses' harness because of sleighs being difficult to stop. It alerted pedestrians of the carriage's approach.

This carriage was known to be pulled by Morgans. It's a Brougham from 1895. 

After viewing the rest of the carriages, it was time to look at the cars. Cars aren't my thing, but the evolution of going from carriage shape to car shaped was interesting. 

This Model A Runabout, circa 1900, looked more carriage than car. Its original cost was $750. The driver driver steered it using a tiller. In the 1900s, few American automobiles had steering wheels. 

Electric vehicles aren't new. This is a 1903 Electric Stanhope. Some cities had. charging stations installed in business areas so drivers could shop while waiting for their cars to recharge.  The original price was $1600 and it had a top speed of 14 mph and a range of 20-22 miles. 

Here's a vehicle that resembles our cars today. It's a Rolls Royce.

This is a Model R Roadster, 1909. It was originally sold for $1350.

All the pieces to make it gooo!

After leaving the museum, we took the Monongahela Inclined Plane. 

We overlooked the city once we stepped off. 

The city on our way down.

 It'd been a nice first day in Pittsburgh!