Design for Vis-A-Vis Carriage
ca. 1870
Medium
Hand colored lithograph with gum arabic
Dimensions
sheet: 5 13/16 x 8 9/16 in. (14.8 x 21.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1359
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming hand-colored lithograph, titled *Design for Vis-A-Visriage*, captures the elegance of 19th-century carriage design around 1870. Created anonymously during the waning years of the Second Empire, it depicts a vis-à-vis carriage—a stylish horse-drawn vehicle with facing seats, ideal for leisurely outings by the elite. These carriages symbolized social status and refined taste in an era when personal transport blended artistry with functionality, just before automobiles reshaped mobility. The medium shines here: lithography allowed precise reproduction of intricate details like orna...
About the Artist
Anonymous, French, 19th century · 1800–1900
**Anonymous, French, 19th Century (ca. 1800–1900)** The artist cataloged as Anonymous, French, 19th century embodies the enigmatic yet essential contributions of unidentified creators to France's vibrant 19th-century art world. Active roughly between 1800 and 1900, this figure—or potentially collective workshop—produced a diverse array of works amid the nation's transition from Neoclassicism thro...