Collecting guide: Thomas Chippendale Sr

From humble beginnings to Britain’s greatest cabinetmaker

The only son of John Chippendale and Mary Drake, Thomas Chippendale was born in the town of Otley, in Yorkshire, in 1718. He would go on to become one of the most important cabinetmakers of the 18th century.

His father’s family was involved in the timber trade and carpentry, so it is likely that he trained with his father before possibly working as an apprentice for the furniture-maker Richard Wood in York.

Little is known of his personal life, but we do know that by the time he married Catherine Redshaw, in 1748, he seems to have been settled in London. In 1754 he moved to St Martin’s Lane, where he oversaw a large workshop called the Cabinet and Upholstery Warehouse. It employed around 50 craftsmen and offered a range of services, from furniture-making to interior design.

‘The 18th century represents something of a golden age for English craftsmanship, and when it comes to furniture design and cabinetmaking, Chippendale was the best in the business,’ says Thomas Williams, international head of English Furniture & Clocks at Christie’s in London.

‘He understood the relationship between design and craftsmanship, proportion and balance, with many pieces being highly functional and practical, as well as beautiful. His reputation spread far beyond the shores of his homeland, and his genius is reflected in the number of beautifully designed and executed pieces of furniture that survive in excellent condition nearly 250 years after his death.’

The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director

Chippendale’s breakthrough moment came in 1754, with the publication of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, featuring 160 furniture designs that other cabinetmakers could copy. The designs covered a range of movable furniture, from a simple, undecorated clothing press to a highly adorned cabinet, and reflected the three most fashionable styles of the period: Gothic, Chinese and Modern Taste, the last referring to what would today be termed the French Rococo style.

Chippendale was an astute businessman, and the Director was aimed at promoting his trade to a wide cross-section of society. His intention was to sign up 400 subscribers, who would receive the 160 plates either bound at £1 and 14 shillings, or loose at £1 and 10 shillings.

Initially, 308 people signed up for the Director. Many were tradesmen, but there were also some architects and sculptors, as well as members of the nobility and gentry. The majority of those who subscribed, however, were craftsmen in the furniture trade.

While a handful of furniture designs had been printed before, Chippendale’s Director was the first publication on such a large scale. It was reprinted a year later, and further enlarged and edited in 1762, by which time Neoclassicism was fast becoming the most fashionable style.

All of Chippendale’s documented furniture commissions date from after the publication of the Director. The book played a significant part in his legacy, not only in Britain but also in Europe and America, where his designs were widely interpreted and copied.

How to identify Chippendale’s work

Chippendale produced many iconic designs and was a master of making subtle alterations to a standard form, ensuring that each patron commissioned something unique. One of the best-known designs from his Director period is perhaps the broad-seated ribbonback chair, with its centre support made up of highly decorative carved ribbons, and a cupid’s bow-shaped back rail. Made from mahogany, these chairs often feature cabriole legs and claw- or scroll-shaped feet.

When it comes to identifying a piece of Chippendale furniture, collectors should look out for a number of constructional clues. On case furniture, these include a red wash applied to the carcass; laminate blocks to build up the bracket feet; short-grain kickers for drawer runners; chamfered drawer stops; S-shape escutcheons; and Gascoigne-stamped locks. As for seat furniture, look out for cramp cuts and baton-carrying and tourniquet holes to the seat rails. ‘These hallmarks are like the fingerprints left by his craftsmen that help us identify pieces by his workshop,’ says Williams.

Chippendale’s range: from small tables to four-poster beds

Chippendale’s versatility as a craftsman and entrepreneur meant that he was commissioned to furnish some of the greatest houses in England, creating complete room schemes when required. His workshop produced everything from tables and chairs to sofas, bookcases, beds, commodes, carpets, mirrors and wallpapers.

Although Chippendale’s most important pieces were bespoke commissions, it is clear from surviving invoices that he did not limit himself to a house’s grander rooms — he also produced modest furniture for all parts of the home.

At Nostell Priory in West Yorkshire, which now belongs to the National Trust, he supplied Sir Rowland Winn with an extensive range of pieces for the grand state rooms, including picture frames and Chinese wallpaper, as well as for the kitchen and servants’ rooms. There is an invoice from 1767 for a four-post servant’s bed for the cook’s room at a cost of £1 and 10 shillings.

Chippendale also produced off-the-peg items for the more casual customer, such as his popular hexagonal tea tables, which sold at four guineas each.

Giltwood, mahogany, japanning and marquetry

The materials Chippendale employed evolved over the course of his career. During the Rococo period, when fluidity and movement were central to the design, elaborate carving was prized above all. ‘In these pieces, giltwood and exquisitely carved mahogany take centre stage,’ says Williams.

From the 1760s onwards, Chippendale embraced the Neoclassical style and the trend for ‘japanned’ (a Western technique intended to imitate East Asian lacquer) or painted furniture. ‘During this time, we also see the creation of marquetry pieces,’ says Williams. Among the most important of these is the Diana and Minerva dressing commode commissioned for Harewood House in 1773. The marquetry is in various exotic woods on a veneered satinwood ground. To protect the precious but vulnerable top of the commode, Chippendale also provided ‘A Damask Leather Cover’.

Harewood House: Chippendale’s largest commission

Thomas Chippendale is first recorded at Harewood House, the home of Yorkshire landowner Edwin Lascelles, in 1767. Lascelles was looking to furnish the new house, which was designed and built by John Carr and Robert Adam between 1759 and 1771.

‘Adam and Chippendale worked together on at least 12 occasions,’ says Williams. ‘It seems that Adam recommended Chippendale to patrons who required furniture and furnishings to complete interior spaces.’

Harewood was Chippendale’s largest and most extensive commission, and probably brought him in excess of £10,000. To give this some context, the entire cost of building nearby Denton Hall (also designed by John Carr) totalled £11,000 — including the Chippendale furniture, which ran to more than £500.

As well as creating furniture for the state rooms, Chippendale — and later his son, Thomas Chippendale Jr, who took on the commission following the death of his father in 1779 — masterminded lavish, complex wall treatments with elaborate giltwood mirrors. They also produced simple, functional items such as garden benches.

‘His commission at Harewood is perhaps the ultimate expression of Chippendale’s Neoclassical period,’ says Williams. ‘The painted furniture was conceived to complement, even enhance, Adam’s sumptuous interiors.’

Originally painted blue and parcel-gilt, the important armchairs above were almost certainly conceived for Lady Harewood’s Dressing Room at Harewood. The chairs feature columnar front legs, a laurel-leaf-decorated seat rail, a cartouche-shaped back, sweeping armrests and scrolling cabriole rear legs. A rare and important set of conversation stools likely formed part of the same suite. Chippendale supplied several other suites of painted or giltwood furniture for Harewood, which remain in situ to this day.

Chippendale’s other leading patrons

‘Chippendale was recognised as a maker without peer in his day, so his patrons were the great and the good, who were building new homes, updating their family seats or furnishing their London houses,’ says Williams.

Perhaps the best-known Scottish commission was that for William Dalrymple, Earl of Dumfries, at Dumfries House, who was one of the few patrons to order Rococo showpieces, exemplifying Chippendale’s early style.

In 2007, Dumfries House and its contents were sold for £45 million by the Marquess of Bute — advised by Christie’s — to the Dumfries House Trust, after the generous intervention of HRH The Prince of Wales and a number of other benefactors. While the house and land were valuable in themselves, the contents were worth even more.

Another important Scottish client was Sir Lawrence Dundas. A businessman and landowner, Dundas spent more than £1,000 with Chippendale between 1763 and 1766 for his North Yorkshire home, as well as for his London home at 19 Arlington Street, off Piccadilly.

This suite of seat furniture, designed by Robert Adam, was the most expensive of Chippendale’s career: each chair cost £20, and the the sofas £54 each. Dispersed from the house in 1934 at an auction conducted by Christie’s, various elements of the suite have since been offered again at Christie’s. In 2008, the pieces broke their own record as the most expensive Chippendale works ever sold, with a sofa, above, selling for £2,169,250 and a pair of armchairs for £2,281,250.

Not all of Chippendale’s patrons were members of the aristocracy or gentry, however. They also included the celebrated actor and theatre manager David Garrick, who ordered furniture from Chippendale for his villa at Hampton in Surrey. Today, Garrick’s bedroom furniture and four-poster bed can be seen at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Caring for Chippendale furniture

‘The beauty of owning any piece of antique furniture is that it was designed to be used and withstand daily wear and tear,’ says Williams. ‘Of course, sometimes pieces will need to be conserved — loose joints may need to be secured or the upholstery changed — but this is all part of the rewarding experience of collecting period furniture.’

The market for pieces by Thomas Chippendale Sr

The Chippendale name remains synonymous with quality, inventive design and exceptional craftsmanship, so the market for pieces by or firmly attributed to him remains strong. A small chest might make in the low thousands of pounds, while the grandest pieces have been sold for many millions.

Today, Chippendale’s case furniture and seat furniture are the pieces most highly prized at auction. ‘Much of his work is still preserved in important institutions and great country houses, so opportunities to acquire documented pieces are few and far between,’ says Williams. ‘When they do surface at auction, we expect strong interest from collectors.’

Chippendale’s enduring appeal

‘Whether it be a constructional extra step taken to ensure faultless functionality 250 years later, or the sensational crispness of a carved detail, Chippendale’s workshop consistently produced the finest pieces, which were rarely equalled, let alone surpassed,’ says Williams. ‘His renown is such that his name is one of the few in English cabinetmaking to transcend the category.’

Although Chippendale left no great fortune, his son carried on his father’s illustrious business into the 19th century. While some Chippendale pieces remain in the houses for which they were originally designed, others now reside in important cross-category collections around the world.

Displaying antiques, including Chippendale pieces, alongside modern or contemporary design can result in a ‘rewarding dialogue and richer experience’, says Williams: ‘Focusing on common attributes, whether it be materials used or unifying forms and details, can help create harmony between pieces across the centuries.’

Until 29 October 2024, Christie’s global auction series Collections, featuring decorative arts from distinguished private houses and estates, will be offered online alongside pre-sale views in New York, London and Paris

Collections: Including the Property of the Earl of Harewood and from a Private Roman Apartment Overlooking the Tiber is live for bidding online, and on view at Christie’s in London, until 23 October 2024