Design for Rumble Sleigh, no. 3667
Medium
Pen and black ink watercolor and gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 11/16 x 9 3/16 in. (17 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
23.112.1276
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the wintry elegance of Gilded Age America with *Design for Rumble S, no. 3667*, a meticulously crafted drawing 1881 by the renowned New York coachmakers Brewster & Co., with design attributed to Herman Stahmer This sheet captures a sleek, lightweight sleigh—known as a "rumble" for its rear baggage compartment—envisioned for swift travel over snow-covered streets. Produced during the peak of horse luxury vehicles, before automobiles reshaped transportation, it reflects the opulence of elite urban life in late 19th-century New York. Brewster & Co., founded in 1810, was America's premi...
About the Artist
Brewster & Co.|Herman Stahmer
**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...