Design for 6 seat Rockaway, no. 3053a
1874
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 1/4 x 9 5/16 in. (15.9 x 23.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1047
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century coachmaking with *Design for 6 Seataway, no. 3053a* by Brewster & Co., in 1874. This delicate drawing captures the blueprint for a luxurious six-seat Rockaway carriage—a, four-wheeled with a convertible top, favored by affluent Americans for leisurely drives through city parks or country estates. Produced by New York City's premier carriage firm, Brewster & Co., for crafting bespoke vehicles for the elite during the Gilded Age, this design exemplifies the blend of functionality and high fashion in pre-automobile transportation. Rendered in pen and b...
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...