Design for Landau, no. 1019
1850–70
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache with gum arabic and metallic ink
Dimensions
sheet: 6 7/16 x 9 7/8 in. (16.4 x 25.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1601
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century coachbuilding with *Design for Landau, no 1019* by Brewster & Co., a New York firm renowned for crafting luxury carriages for America's elite from the 1830s to the early 20th century. Created between 1850 and 1870, this drawing captures the firm's meticulous design process for a landau—a sophisticated four-wheeled carriage a folding roof, ideal for stylish urban outings. At just 6 7/16 x 9 7/8 inches, it exemplifies the precision of pre-automobile transportation, when such vehicles symbolized wealth and social status. Rendered in pen and black ink w...
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...