Caleche #4203
1893
Medium
pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 3/8 x 9 1/8 in. (16.2 x 23.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.1378
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1893 by the renowned New York firm Brewster & Co., *Caleche #4203* is a detailed design drawing for an elegant light carriage. Brewster & Co. was among America’s premier coachbuilders during the late nineteenth century, supplying custom vehicles to wealthy clients before the automobile era. This sheet captures the graceful lines and folding hood characteristic of a calèche, reflecting both functional engineering and refined taste. Executed in pen and black ink with watercolor and gouache, the drawing highlights the firm’s meticulous design process. Such mixed-media works allowed de...
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...