St. Petersburg, Russia/stpet520

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Inside the Hermitage, this is a carriage commissioned by Peter I in 1717 when he was staying in Paris. The carriage was built and furbished by the Manufacture des Gobelins of Paris in the early 1720s. The manufacture was originally a tapestry factory, supplying Louis XIV and other monarchs of France. This carriage was used in the coronation ceremonies of Catherine I (1724) and Catherine the Great (1762). Carriages were also supplied to other Russian monarchs from the 16th century by other agencies, including the Hatchett family of London, of whom Charles Hatchett in 1801 discovered the element niobium! {LINK: London2B-250}