(1718 - 1779)
Thomas Chippendale is generally regarded as one of the greatest cabinet makers in British history. A master of every style he worked in – from
Georgian and English
Rococo to
Neoclassical furniture design – he was the standard bearer of British furniture design in his day. Nearly 250 years after his death, he remains a global name in furniture design and his works can be found in stately homes throughout the UK and museums around the world.
Chippendale was born in Yorkshire in 1718 to a family of wood traders and carpenters. Precious little is known about his early life, and it is only when he marries his first wife, Catherine Redshaw in 1748 that we begin to find historical records of his life.
In around 1753 he set up his workshop in St. Martin’s Lane, London where he was to remain for the rest of his life. In 1754 he published the now legendary The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director - a catalogue of furniture designs that was to become the most important book on English furniture in its time. Included in over 160 prints were designs for everything from chairs, sofas, and beds, to clocks, writing tables, and picture frames. Nothing like it had been seen before and it became a sellout success.
Chippendale’s anglicised version of
Rococo designs was already evident in many of the pieces included in the catalogue. With their intricate patterns, ornate carvings and classic cabriole legs, these pieces appealed to Britain’s wealthy and influential elite and the catalogue soon began to attract commissions.
Throughout several republications of the catalogue, Chippendale’s client list grew. William Dalrymple, Earl of Dumfries, ordered a number of
Rococo pieces for Dumfries House. Theatre manager David Garrick ordered furniture for his villa in Surrey. Sir Rowland Winn commissioned a range of furniture for the grand staterooms at Nostell Priory. And Yorkshire landowner Edwin Lascelles hired Chippendale to furnish his newly acquired, Harewood House. Here Chippendale created lavish wall designs, elaborate giltwood mirrors and ornate feature carvings in what was possibly his largest single commission.
But the catalogue not only gave a shop window to Chippendale’s skills as a designer, but it also offered his contemporaries an opportunity to freely copy his styles and designs. This arguably helped spread Chippendale’s style of furniture to reach a much wider audience through copies and reproductions. That, in turn, stamped his influence on furniture designs far and wide and created a legacy that is perpetuated to this day.
With such high-profile clients and such wide recognition, Chippendale’s business flourished. Records suggest that at one point his workshop was employing some 50 craftsmen, as well as bringing in jobbing professionals for specific products. He was also elected to the Society of Arts in 1759, confirming his status as one of Britain’s elite designers.
In the 1760s, Chippendale struck up a working relationship with the Scottish architect Robert Adam who had been commissioned to remodel a house for Sir Lawrence Dundas, a Scottish businessman and landowner. During this time, and most likely influenced by Adam’s work, Chippendale began working more in the
Neoclassical style, and produced some of his most iconic pieces.
The collaboration led to some exceptional work, most notably a pair of George III giltwood armchairs Designed by Robert Adam and made by Thomas Chippendale. The chairs fetched £2,169,250 when auctioned by Christies in 2008.
Chippendale’s legacy is hard to overstate. As a versatile designer and highly skilled craftsmen he understood the relationship between form and function, and produced pieces that were both richly aesthetic and highly functional. And as an astute entrepreneur he was able to build a client list of wealthy patrons that ensured his furniture took pride of place in the homes of the rich and famous and was passed down through the ages.
Designer, businessman, artist, influencer, Thomas Chippendale is without doubt one of the truly great names of British furniture.