Design for Omnibus or Wagonette, no. 3636a
1880
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor ans gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
Sheet: 7 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (18.1 x 23.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.501
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century carriage design with *Design for Omnibus Wagonette, no. 3636a* by Brewster & Co., created in 1880. This delicate drawing captures the firm's vision for a stylish horse-drawn vehicle, blending the practicality of an omnibus—a larger passenger coach—with the lighter, open-air charm of a wagonette. just 7 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, it's a compact blueprint of luxury transport from New York's premier carriage makers, gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1923 by William Brewster. Brewster & Co., renowned for crafting bespoke carriages for America's elite...
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...