Parasol Top Phaeton #973
ca. 1870
Medium
Pen and black ink, watercolor and gouache with gum arabic
Dimensions
sheet: 6 13/16 x 9 7/8 in. (17.3 x 25.1 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.3068
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate drawing captures a Parasol Top Phaeton, model #973, a graceful open carriage designed for leisurely drives in the late nineteenth century. Created around 1870 by Brewster & Co., America’s leading carriage manufacturer, in collaboration with artist Channing Britton, the work served as both a technical record and a presentation piece. The phaeton’s elegant lines, lightweight frame, and distinctive parasol canopy reflect the era’s emphasis on refined personal transport, when such vehicles signaled wealth and taste among America’s growing urban elite. Executed in pen and black ink w...
About the Artist
Brewster & Co.|Channing Britton
**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...