Phaeton (unnumbered)
ca. 1870
Medium
Pen and ink, watercolor, gouache and gum arabic
Dimensions
sheet: 6 x 8 13/16 in. (15.2 x 22.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of William Brewster, 1923
Accession Number
23.112.3088
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the elegant world of 19th carriage design with *Phaeton (unn)*, a captivating preparatory drawing by the renowned New York firm Brewster & Co., circa 1870. This delicate work on a modest 6 x 8 13/16-inch sheet depicts a sleek phaeton—an open, light four-wheeled carriage favored for its speed and style, evoking the mythological Phaeton's daring chariot ride. Brewster & Co., celebrated coachbuilders to America's elite, crafted such luxury vehicles for the Gilded Age's wealthiest families, blending functionality with opulent flair. Rendered in pen and ink for precise lines, enriched wi...
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...