INTERIOR SHOWING THREE CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS

FURNITURE AND ITS MAKERS
Thomas Chippendale

FOUR

A young art student came to a furniture shop in London and the talk was of beauty of line, the dignity of proportion, and the introduction of mahogany in the manufacture of furniture. The art student afterward became Sir Joshua Reynolds, the world famed painter. The furniture maker was Thomas Chippendale, known as “King of the Eighteenth Century Furniture Designers.” And to these early friendly talks and arguments Chippendale attributes his reputation as a master of line and a genius of proportion.

Before the time of Chippendale most of the furniture was made of the heavier native woods, such as walnut or oak. Mahogany made a powerful appeal to him, because of its highly polished surface and the exquisite beauty of the wood itself; for the young cabinet maker who came up to London from Worcestershire had a passionate love of beauty and he was a master workman. From his father, who had achieved considerable local fame, he inherited this love, and he had learned how to make the wood carvings that are characteristic of his designs.

After a fire he converted four adjacent dwelling houses into a shop, which was situated on St. Martins Lane, in the fashionable section of London; and because he protested against the amount of his taxes it seems probable he was prosperous. Moreover, he belonged to the Society of Arts, with Gibbon the historian, Richardson the novelist, Dr. Johnson the lexicographer, and Horace Walpole the politician. If you add to this that he married in 1748 and died in 1779, there is summed up practically all there is known of Thomas Chippendale himself.

Chippendale made beautiful furniture. He was recognized by both the nobility and gentry, not only as an authority on the subject, but as an artist. He was probably better known as a designer of chairs than of any other form of furniture. Chippendale was familiar with artistic designs in Japan, Italy, and Spain, and was ready always to take ideas from the humble as well as the great, as is shown from the fact that subscribers to his book, “The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director,” range from the Duke of Northumberland to a local bricklayer. A large part of his reputation is attributed to this book, which was not so much a guide to his finished productions as an outline of the designs he would like to make. And these designs have served as a guide to furniture makers ever since.