Vardo (Romani wagon)
Not used for year-round living today, they are shown at the cultural gatherings held throughout the year, the best known of which is Appleby Horse Fair in the town of Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria, North West England.
[6] A vardo's design includes large wheels set outside the body, whose sides slope outward considerably as they rise toward the eaves.
[7]: 75 Wagons' exteriors can range from fairly plain to intricately carved, painted in bright colours, and sheathed in places with gold leaf.
[7]: 29 Originally Romanichal would travel on foot, or with light, horse-drawn carts, typical of other Romani groups or would build "bender" tents; so called because they were made from supple branches which they bent inwards to support a waterproof covering.
[8]: 62–63 (See Gypsy horse) Wagons were first used as a form of living accommodation (as opposed to carrying people or goods) in France in 1810 by non-Romani circus troupes.
xxvii), Charles Dickens described Mrs. Jarley's well-appointed van: One half of it...was carpeted, and so partitioned off at the further end as to accommodate a sleeping-place, constructed after the fashion of a berth on board ship, which was shaded, like the windows, with fair white curtains...
These latter necessaries hung upon the walls, which in that portion of the establishment devoted to the lady of the caravan, were ornamented with such gayer and lighter decorations as a triangle and a couple of well-thumbed tambourines.These smaller wagons were called "vardo" in the Romani language (originating from the Ossetic word vurdon) for cart.
Originally undecorated, the Burton wagon evolved into an elaborate Romani vardo, but due to its smaller wheels it was not suited for off-road use.
The exterior is equipped with racks and cases fitted on the outside frame and chase of the wagon allowing the owner to carry trade items like brushes, brooms, wicker chairs, and baskets.
The Reading or kite wagon is so named due to its straight sides that slope outwards towards the eaves, high arched wheels, and relative light weight; there is no other vardo that epitomises the golden age of Romani horse travel.
Side and back windows were decorated and shuttered, and the body of the vardo itself would have originally been made from beaded tongue-and-groove matchboard, painted red picked out in yellow and green.
The porch roof was further supported by iron brackets, and the walls were highly decorated with ornate scrollwork and carvings across the length of the wagon.
Examples of famous Wagon Artists responsible for the early development of vardo art are Jim Berry, John Pockett, Tom Stevens, Tommy Gaskin, John Pickett, and modern contemporary decorators continuing to shape this colourful tradition included artists such as Yorkie Greenwood and Lol Thompson.
Much of the wealth of the vardo was on display in the carvings, which incorporated aspects of the Romani lifestyle such as horses and dogs, as well as stock decorative designs of birds, lions, griffins, flowers, vines, and elaborate scrollwork.
The Romani travellers in the 1920s proudly clung to their decorative vardos, although the economics of their way of life was in upheaval due to the contraction in the horse-trading industry and the changes from their traditional crafts.
[19] John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls-Royce was painted in the style of a Romani gypsy wagon by artist Steve Weaver of private coach maker J.P. Fallon Ltd.[20]
