Illus. 158.—Easy-Chair with Dutch Legs, 1750.
Chippendale drew most of his ideas from the French, notably in the way of ornamentation, but the form of his chairs was developed chiefly from the Dutch style, with the bandy leg and splat in the back. His straight-legged chairs were suggested by the Chinese furniture, which was fashionable about the middle of the eighteenth century. These various styles Chippendale adapted, and employed with such success that his was the strongest influence of the century upon furniture, and for a period of over thirty years it was supreme.
Illus. 159.—Claw-and-ball-foot Easy-chair, 1750.
Illus. 160.—Chippendale Chair.
The claw-and-ball foot does not appear upon any of Chippendale’s designs in “The Gentleman’s and Cabinet-Maker’s Director.”
Illus. 161.—Chippendale Chair.
His preference was plainly for the French scroll foot, shown upon the sofa in Illustration [209] and the candle-stand in Illustration [333]. Doubtless, however, he made furniture with the claw-and-ball foot, which was the foot used by the majority of his imitators and followers.