Model barrel top wagon

This model-size wagon, also known as a barrel top wagon, was made by members of the Hutchinson family in Tipperary at least 40 years ago.

It was modelled on a full-size living wagon with traditional ball-rubber type of wheels, of the type known to the maker, and made for enjoyment.

The wagon was the traditional home of nomadic Irish Traveller families. Traditionally when a peron died in a wagon, it was burnt afterwards.

Nora Ward, Tuam, recalls her life in a wagon, ‘with separate sleeping tents for the boys and the girls. There was a shelter tent at the side of the wagon in the winter. I didn’t feel the cold when I was young, but you pay for it when you get older'.

At the front of the wagon are the shafts for the horse attached to a turning table. On the back is the rack and pan box for holding pots and pans and other items when travelling. Inside are beds and presses, and a stove. The chimney of the stove was always on the right-hand side, away from the edge of the road where it might hit against tree branches.

The paint work and designs bring beauty and cheerfulness to the wagon. The vibrant yellow, green and red colours were among the popular colours found on barrel-top wagons. Scrolling forms, a mix of C and S-Scrolls and garland-style are found from Classical times, as is the stylized cupid’s arrrow at the the base of the wagon. A study of the motifs and designs on barrel top wagons by those who lived in and remember them would be timely.

An article from 'Paint your Wagon', Traveller Times, 18th January 2016, gives an indication of the creativity and ingenuity in order to achieve this beautiful decoration:

"They'd tell of how they'd improvise, using blades of grass or snips of children's hair in place of a lining brush. I lapped up all this knowledge and stored it away for future use."