Park Drag #3426
1878
Medium
Graphite on wove paper with linen tape adhered to left edge with perforations for binding.
Dimensions
Sheet: 13 5/8 × 21 7/8 in. (34.6 × 55.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.2715
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th-century carriage design with *Park Drag #3426 a precise graphite drawing created by the renowned New York firm Brewster & Co. in1878. This detailed rendering showcases one of their signature luxury vehicles—a "park drag," a sleek, four-wheeled carriage designed for drives through urban parks or country estates. Favored by the Gilded Age elite, these drags combined speed, comfort, and opulent styling, reflecting the era's obsession with social display and refined horsemanship. Brewster & Co., established in 1810, was America's preeminent carriage maker, craf...
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...