Design for Cabriolet or Victoria, no. 3884
1884
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
sheet: 6 5/8 x 9 1/16 in. (16.8 x 23 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.404
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century coachmaking with *Design for Cabriolet Victoria, no. 3884* by Brewster & Co., premier New York firm renowned for crafting luxury horse-drawn carriages for America's elite. Created in 1884, this precise drawing captures the refined lines of a cabriolet or victoria—a, open carriage favored for stylish urban outings. At just 6 5/8 x 9 1/16 inches, it exemplifies the meticulous planning behind vehicles that symbolized status during the Gilded Age, before automobiles reshaped transportation. Brewster & Co., established in 1810, supplied carriages to pres...
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...