Design for Landau, no. 809
1850–70
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache with gum arabic and metallic ink
Dimensions
sheet: 6 9/16 x 8 13/16 in. (16.7 x 22.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1581
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century coachbuilding with *Design for Landau, no 809* by Brewster & Co., a New York firm renowned for crafting luxury horse-drawn carriages for America's elite. Created between 1850 and 1870, this drawing captures the poised sophistication of a Landau—a four-wheeled carriage with a convertible roof, favored for leisurely drives and social displays. At a time when carriages were the ultimate status symbols, before automobiles reshaped travel, Brewster's designs blended functionality with opulent detailing, reflecting the Gilded Age's blend of innovation and ...
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...