Drawing
- Place of origin:
City of London, England (designed)
- Date:
ca.1738-ca.1776 (designed)
- Artist/Maker:
chippendale, born 1718 - died 1779 (designer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Pen and ink and wash on paper
- Museum number:
D.722-1906
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level E, case W, shelf 9, box A(II)
Thomas Chippendale was a fashionable designer and cabinet-maker in the eighteenth-century, providing furniture to such famous contemporary figures as David Garrick. His company produced high-quality furniture, including some key masterpieces, but Chippendale's outstanding skill was in design. His pattern-book The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director went through three editions in the 1750s and 60s and inspired trade catalogues and pattern-books from fellow designers. Usually produced by architects, a large, elegant pattern-book was an ambitious project for a craftsman at this time. The Director showed the full range of furniture available in the eighteenth century, and the range of styles that were fashionable. Chippendale created a trademark fusion of rococo style with Chinese and gothic elements, which was the basis of 'English' rococo. His style influenced furniture design in contemporary Europe and colonial America, and had a marked Victorian revival in England. The Director designs were the main source for Chippendale's high reputation until his furniture was first identified in 1906.
