Design for Rockaway, no. 464
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache
Dimensions
sheet: 6 3/8 x 9 1/8 in. (16.2 x 23.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1556
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate design drawing captures a Rockaway carriage, a popular American vehicle of the mid-19th century known for its enclosed body and open driver’s seat. Created between 1850 and 1870 by Brewster & Co. with Channing Britton, the sheet employs pen and black ink for precise outlines, accented by watercolor and gouache to suggest the vehicle’s elegant lines, painted panels, and upholstery details. Such presentation drawings allowed coachbuilders to present customized options to clients before the full-scale construction began. Brewster & Co., based in New York, ranked among the foremost ...
About the Artist
Brewster & Co.|Channing Britton
**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...