Her Majesty's Furniture: A Chippendale Armchair, 1740-60

Drawing Room Chair of Mahogany
Thomas Chippendale
1740-60
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Myriad variations of this upholstered drawing-room armchair could have been found in almost any wealthy, mid-18th century household.  This particular mahogany chair is exceptional because it came from the workshop of Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779).  The carver has used stylized dolphin heads as terminals for the chair's feet and the arms.

Chippendale's original design incorporated the whole body of the dolphin - its tail visible at the top of the leg, but the carver has adapted the design, possibly because this chair was likely part of a set which was a special commission.  The scale of the chair and quality of the carving are further  indicators that this chair was part of a commission for a set of seating furniture for a large drawing room. According to the V&A, "At least four other chairs and a footstool of the same carved design are known today."

Thomas Chippendale recommended that tapestry or needlework should be used for drawing-room chairs almost exclusively over other materials. The embroidery on this chair probably dates from the 1740s and may have been cut down from a set of larger wall hangings.

This chair is numbered "IV" of a set of six.  Another from the set lives at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool and four others were shown by Messrs. Partridge in their summer exhibition in 1939. 

The Home Beautiful: A Chippendale Mirror, 1762-5

Chippendale Mirror and Girandole, 1762-5
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This exceptional Eighteenth Century mirror was designed to serve double-duty as a girandole or a sconce with three arms to support candles and reflect the candlelight to increase the light in a room.

A work of Chippendale (1718-1779), dating between 1762 and 1765, this mirror boasts an elaborately-carved Rococo frame adorned with flowers, leaves, bull-rushes and birds (probably cranes). The carved pine frame was gilded creating a surface which, when combined with the brass fittings and mirror, also served to reflect light.

Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) engaged a team of engravers to prepare his designs, so its difficult to say whose specific hand created this piece.  The glass—as with most large sheets of glass at the time—was most surely imported from France.  This complex design incorporates both smaller and larger sections of glass. The smaller sections were crafted from off-cuts from the larger pieces—economically utilizing as much of this expensive material as possible.

Her Majesty's Furniture: A Chippendale Armchair, 1740-60

Drawing Room Chair of Mahogany
Thomas Chippendale
1740-60
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Myriad variations of this upholstered drawing-room armchair could have been found in almost any wealthy, mid-18th century household.  This particular mahogany chair is exceptional because it came from the workshop of Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779).  The carver has used stylized dolphin heads as terminals for the chair's feet and the arms.

Chippendale's original design incorporated the whole body of the dolphin - its tail visible at the top of the leg, but the carver has adapted the design, possibly because this chair was likely part of a set which was a special commission.  The scale of the chair and quality of the carving are further  indicators that this chair was part of a commission for a set of seating furniture for a large drawing room. According to the V&A, "At least four other chairs and a footstool of the same carved design are known today."

Thomas Chippendale recommended that tapestry or needlework should be used for drawing-room chairs almost exclusively over other materials. The embroidery on this chair probably dates from the 1740s and may have been cut down from a set of larger wall hangings.

This chair is numbered "IV" of a set of six.  Another from the set lives at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool and four others were shown by Messrs. Partridge in their summer exhibition in 1939.

Drawing of the Day: A Design for a Chippendale Desk, 1753-62

Drawing
Design for a Desk
Thomas Chippendale
1753-1762
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Thomas Chippendale (1718-1762), perhaps one of the best-remembered fashionable designers and cabinet-makers of Eighteenth-Century London, provided furniture to such famous contemporary figures as David Garrick who adored the Chippendale company’s high-quality furniture.

As fantastic as the finished pieces were, Chippendale's most outstanding skill was his design. He produced a pattern-book, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, which developed through three editions in the 1750s and 60s—inspiring trade catalogues and pattern-books from fellow designers.

Here, we see one of Chippendale’s designs for a desk and bookcase which dates between 1753 and 1762. The desk features four drawers, two on each of two rows, and a drop front, and stands on sumptuous Rococo cabriole legs. The bookcase boasts two doors with an elaborate ogee arch, Rococo ornamentation, and a handsome finial above. A cusped ornamental band separates the desk and bookcase.

This design appeared as Plate 111 in the third edition of Chippendale's pattern-book  and is one of  98 plates engraved for the edition by Matthias Darly.

Her Majesty's Furniture: A Chippendale Armchair, 1740-60

Drawing Room Chair of Mahogany
Thomas Chippendale
1740-60
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Myriad variations of this upholstered drawing-room armchair could have been found in almost any wealthy, mid-18th century household.  This particular mahogany chair is exceptional because it came from the workshop of Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779).  The carver has used stylized dolphin heads as terminals for the chair's feet and the arms.

Chippendale's original design incorporated the whole body of the dolphin - its tail visible at the top of the leg, but the carver has adapted the design, possibly because this chair was likely part of a set which was a special commission.  The scale of the chair and quality of the carving are further  indicators that this chair was part of a commission for a set of seating furniture for a large drawing room. According to the V&A, "At least four other chairs and a footstool of the same carved design are known today."

Thomas Chippendale recommended that tapestry or needlework should be used for drawing-room chairs almost exclusively over other materials. The embroidery on this chair probably dates from the 1740s and may have been cut down from a set of larger wall hangings.

This chair is numbered "IV" of a set of six.  Another from the set lives at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Liverpool and four others were shown by Messrs. Partridge in their summer exhibition in 1939.

The Home Beautiful: A Chippendale Mirror, 1762-5

Chippendale Mirror and Girandole, 1762-5
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This exceptional Eighteenth Century mirror was designed to serve double-duty as a girandole or a sconce with three arms to support candles and reflect the candlelight to increase the light in a room.

A work of Chippendale (1718-1779), dating between 1762 and 1765, this mirror boasts an elaborately-carved Rococo frame adorned with flowers, leaves, bull-rushes and birds (probably cranes). The carved pine frame was gilded creating a surface which, when combined with the brass fittings and mirror, also served to reflect light.

Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) engaged a team of engravers to prepare his designs, so its difficult to say whose specific hand created this piece.  The glass—as with most large sheets of glass at the time—was most surely imported from France.  This complex design incorporates both smaller and larger sections of glass. The smaller sections were crafted from off-cuts from the larger pieces—economically utilizing as much of this expensive material as possible.