Design for Pony Phaeton, no. 3771
1882
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
Plate: 6 7/8 x 9 3/16 in. (17.5 x 23.3 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.917
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century coachmaking with *Design for Pony Pha, no. 3771* by Brewster & Co., a premier New York firm renowned for crafting luxury carriages for America's elite. Created in 1882, this precise drawing captures the graceful lines of a pony phaeton—a light, four-wheeled open pulled by small horses, for leisurely park drives during the Gilded Age.ored by high society for its sporty yet refined style, it symbolized status and leisure before automobiles reshaped transportation. Brewster & Co.'s designs, like this one, were marketing masterpieces, showcasing bespoke...
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...