Design for Vis-à-vis/ Calèche (unnumbered)
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache
Dimensions
sheet: 6 x 9 1/16 in. (15.2 x 23 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1313
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate 1875 design drawing by Brewster & Co., in collaboration with Paul Rodiss, captures the elegance of a vis-à-vis calèche—a luxurious horse-drawn carriage with facing seats, ideal for stylish urban outings. Produced by the renowned New York Brewster & Co., famed for crafting high-end vehicles for America's Gilded Age elite, thisnumbered sheet (6 x 9 1/16 in.) exemplifies the firm's meticulous design process. Donated to the Metropolitan Museum Art in 1923 by William Brewster, it now resides in the Drawings and Prints department. Rendered in pen and black ink with watercolor and goua...
About the Artist
Brewster & Co.|Paul Rodissart
**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...