Sleigh #3547
1879
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 3/4 x 9 1/4 in. (17.1 x 23.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1205
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th American coachmaking with *Sleigh #3547*, a meticulously rendered design drawing by the renowned firm Brewster & Co., dated 1879. Produced this New York-based luxury carriage maker, the work showcases a sleek sleigh model—likely intended for affluent clients during the Gilded Age, when winter outings in horse-drawn vehicles symbolized status and leisure. Cataloged as part of their extensive numbered series, it exemplifies the firm's reputation for crafting high-end sleighs favored by the elite, from tycoons to socialites. Rendered on a modest sheet measurin...
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...