Design for Landaulet, no. 893
1850–70
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
sheet: 5 13/16 x 8 15/16 in. (14.8 x 22.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1430
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century coachbuilding with *Design for Landaulet,. 893* by Brewster & Co., a rendering from 1850–70. Created by the renowned New York firm Brewster & Co.—celebrated for crafting luxurious horse-drawn carriages for America's elite—this pen and black ink drawing, enhanced with watercolor, gouache, and gumic, captures the precise blueprint for a landaulet. This carriage style featured an open front for the driver and passengers, with a convertible roof over the rear seats, blending practicality with opulent style. In an era before automobiles, such designs rep...
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...