Description
Thomas Chippendale, (baptized June 5, 1718, Otley, Yorkshire, England—buried November 13, 1779, London), one of the leading cabinetmakers of 18th-century England and one of the most perplexing figures in the history of furniture. His name is synonymous with the Anglicized Rococo style.
Nothing is known of Chippendale’s early life until his marriage to Catherine Redshaw in London in 1748. In 1753 he moved to St. Martin’s Lane, where he maintained his showrooms, workshops, and home for the rest of his life. In 1754 he published his celebrated Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director. This work was the most important collection of furniture designs theretofore published in England, illustrating almost every type of mid-18th-century domestic furniture. The first and second (1755) editions contained 160 plates, and the third edition (published in weekly parts, 1759–62) had 200. The designs largely were Chippendale’s improvements on the fashionable furniture styles and designs of the time.
Chippendale was elected to the Society of Arts in 1759 but declined reelection in the following year. Meanwhile he had become a partner with James Rannie, apparently an upholsterer, who died in 1766. Chippendale continued the business alone until he took Thomas Haig, Rannie’s former clerk, into partnership in 1771. Chippendale’s first wife died in 1772, and he married Elizabeth Davis in 1777. He died of tuberculosis two years later.
Hardback. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Hardback. Dust Jacket. 4to. pp x, 288. Original publisher’s burgundy cloth, lettered gilt at the spine. Copiously illustrated in black and white throughout. This book is very heavy, and delivery costs may be a consideration especially outside South Africa . ISBN: 1871487455 Fine in near fine dust jacket, with a protective sleeve. Excellent condition
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.