Design for 6 seat Phaeton, no. 4062
1890
Medium
pen and black ink watercolor and gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 5/16 x 9 1/4 in. (16 x 23.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.976
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate design drawing from 1890 captures a six-seat phaeton, an elegant open carriage favored for leisurely drives and sporting outings in the late nineteenth century. Created by Brewster & Co., America’s premier carriage manufacturer based in New York, the sheet served as both a working blueprint and a presentation piece, showcasing the vehicle’s graceful lines, suspension details, and seating arrangement to prospective clients. Brewster & Co. was renowned for combining traditional European coach-building techniques with American innovation, producing vehicles for prominent families an...
About the Artist
Brewster & Co.
**Brewster & Co.** Brewster & Company, a premier American coachbuilder renowned for its exquisite carriage designs, was established in 1810 in New Haven, Connecticut, by James Brewster (1788–1866). Born in 1788, Brewster trained as a wagonmaker's apprentice starting at age 16 in Northampton, Massachusetts, before relocating to New Haven, where he set up his workshop and quickly gained acclaim for...