Albany Cutter, circa 1865

The Albany cutter, a two-passenger sleigh, was the preferred wintertime vehicle for wealthy 19th-century families in the northeastern United States. James Goold of Albany, New York, developed this graceful, swell-sided sleigh design by the 1830s. David M. Anderson of Watertown, New York, bought this example secondhand about 1890. Anderson added paint and gilt decoration to the elegant vehicle.