Design for Landau, No. 3930
1884
Medium
pen and black ink, watercolor and gaouche 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
23.112.141
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century coachmaking with *Design for Landau, No 3930* by Brewster & Co., a 1884 drawing that captures the pinnacle of luxury carriage design. Brewster & Co., New York's premier carriage builders from 1810 to 1926, vehicles for America's elite, including and industrial tycoons during the Gilded Age. precise rendering of a landau—a four-whe convertible carriage with a folding roof over the rear seats—highlights the firm's reputation for bespoke elegance, blending functionality with opulent detailing just before automobiles reshaped transportation. Rendered in...
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...