Design for Dog Cart or 2 Wheeler, no. 4163
1892
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. (15.6 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
23.112.637
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate design drawing from 1892 captures a practical yet elegant "Dog Cart or 2 Wheeler," a lightweight carriage popular in the late nineteenth century for leisure and sporting use. Created by Brewster & Co., one of America’s leading carriage manufacturers based in New York, the sheet bears the company’s design number 4163 and reflects the firm’s reputation for refined vehicles favored by the Gilded Age elite. The compact two-wheeled form, typically drawn by a single horse, was both stylish and functional, allowing owners to transport dogs, game, or passengers with ease. Executed in pe...
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...