English Chippendale Furniture
Thomas Chippendale was an English furniture and cabinet maker working in the 1700s who’s name is probaly most famously associated with Chippendale Chairs. Chippendale Chairs typically feature ball and claw feet and ornately carved backsplats with a chunky feel. Chippendale also made chests, desks, cabinets and other pieces of furniture. His enduring style was produced in workshops in both Britain and America since then. The Chippendale legacy can be seen in the intricate Gothic, Rococo and Chinese inspired chair backs assoociated with mid – 18th Century furniture. As Chippendale’s designs were taking hold so the Neoclassical style emerged and was evident in the light elegant chairs of the late 18th Century. In Britain it was later interpreted by George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton.
Thomas Chippendale, (1718-1779), the English furniture designer and cabinetmaker whose name has become the generic label for furniture of the 1750s and 1760s. The son of a Yorkshire joiner, he probably served a family apprenticeship before seeking his fortune in London. He established a workshop there around 1749, later moving to spacious premises in St Martin’s Lane, at the hub of the London furniture trade. His partner, James Rannie, probably financed the business.
In 1754 Chippendale published The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director by subscription. This was a book of engraved designs for a wide variety of household furniture in the fashionable styles of the time, including the Rococo, Chinese, and Gothic tastes. It was reissued in 1755 and, with additions in the newly emerging Neo-Classical style, between 1759 and 1762. The Director established Chippendale’s reputation as a leading cabinetmaker and ensured his lasting influence. It was the most distinguished of all the 18th-century furniture design books and the first to provide a comprehensive survey of the styles in vogue.
Chippendale’s considerable business (he employed about 50 skilled craftsmen) was not without setbacks: in 1755 the cabinet shop was severely damaged by fire, and the death of Rannie in 1766 led to financial problems. Although relatively little is known of Chippendale’s private life and although he never achieved the gentlemanly status of some of his contemporary cabinetmakers, his firm produced a quantity of fine furniture for noble and wealthy patrons, and this is well documented. For some he both designed and provided complete interior schemes and it is known that he furnished interiors designed by Robert Adam.
Some of Chippendale’s most important furniture, ranging from early Director pieces to those executed in the Neo-Classical style of the late 1760s and 1770s, can still be seen in the houses for which it was commissioned. Notable examples are Dumfries House, Ayrshire; Wilton House, Wiltshire; Aske Hall, Nostell Priory, Harewood House, Newby Hall and Burton Constable in Yorkshire; Mersham le Hatch, Kent; Paxton House, Berwickshire; and Petworth House, Sussex. Canonbury Antiques on Church street in London carries some fine examples of Chippendale furniture.
Chippendale’s eldest son, also Thomas (1749-1822), continued the business and maintained its reputation as one of the leading cabinetmakers of the late 18th century.
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