This year is the 300th anniversary of the birth of the greatest English cabinet-maker, Thomas Chippendale, aptly described by Christopher Gilbert, as ‘The Shakespeare of English furniture-makers’. Apprenticed to his father, John, a joiner in Otley, Yorkshire he moved to London in 1748 where he soon set up premises at the sign of the Chair in St Martin’s Lane, not far from Covent Garden where James Christie was to hold his first auctions; tradition has it that his rostrum was supplied by Chippendale and the model, still in use to this day. He made his name in 1754 with the publication of a book of designs, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director which showed the fashionable furniture of the time. The prevailing style was Rococo and the 160 designs were beautifully engraved and available for clients to choose from and for other cabinet-makers to copy. The success was immediate and The Director was reprinted the following year and further enlarged and edited in 1762, by which time neo-classicism was fast emerging as the fashionable style pioneered by the likes of Robert Adam, who had returned from Rome in 1758. Chippendale was astute at promoting his Director to a wealthy clientele, whether it be the established aristocracy or the holders of newly created fortunes in the burgeoning trading nation that England had become in the 18th century. Amongst his early commissions, the most famous was for the Earl of Dumfries in 1759; Dumfries House in Scotland was saved for the nation in 2007 by the Prince of Wales and other generous benefactors with Christie’s playing a pivotal role in the £45 million sale. This commission showed the full range of Chippendale’s skills from the famous padouk bookcase made for Lady Dumfries’s bedroom to superb seat-furniture and numerous mirrors. Interestingly his brief throughout his career was not limited to supplying the furniture and there was no part that his hand didn’t touch, from wallpaper to bedding. Whilst his designs from the Director made him famous the majority of the furniture we know and admire is neo-classical in style. Sir Lawrence Dundas, who had amassed a fortune in the Seven Years war, was keen to establish a fashionable London residence and in 1763 he acquired 19 Arlington Street, off Piccadilly, commissioning the avant garde architect Robert Adam, beholder of the new neo-classical style. Adam not only remodelled the house but provided a design for a sofa that was a transition between the curvaceous forms of the rococo yet adorned with neo-classical ornament. The design, that cost £5, was transformed into reality by Chippendale and is the only known instance of Chippendale executing an Adam design. This suite of seat-furniture was the most expensive of his career with the sofas costing £54 each and each chair £20. Partially dispersed from the house in the 1934 auction conducted by Christie’s, various elements of the suite have appeared here in King Street and in 2008 broke their own record as the most expensive pieces of Chippendale ever sold. The crucial link between the Adam design in the Sir John Soane Museum and this suite was made by Anthony Coleridge of Christie’s in 1967. The collaboration between Adam and Chippendale continued, but from then on Chippendale seemed to have convinced Adam and his patrons that he was more than competent to design in an innovative fashion. In his native Yorkshire where he was to have a great following, Chippendale worked in tandem with Adam at Nostell Priory for Sir Rowland Winn. The Winn commission, which included the London house 11 St James’s Square, is the best example of his neo-classical mahogany period and is well documented; as is the, at times and all too common, strained relations between patron and cabinet-maker. Running concurrently in Yorkshire was his work, again with Adam and John Carr of York, for Edwin Lascelles at Harewood House. It was Chippendale’s largest and most valuable commission, spanning more than a decade from 1768 and continued by his son, Thomas, for a further two decades. The carved mahogany of the 1750s and 60s had made way for lighter marquetry pieces, as well as intricately carved, gilded and painted, mirrors and chairs. The famous Diana and Minerva commode cost £86, whereas many of the mirrors stretched into hundreds of pounds. Christie’s has had a long association with Harewood and in 1965 the magnificent Harewood Desk, now at Temple Newsam, created a record 41,000 guineas [£43,050]. In the 1980s much work was undertaken at Harewood by Christie’s in conjunction with Carvers and Gilders to reinstate Chippendale’s work that had been swept aside during Charles Barry’s remodelling of the 1840s. Chippendale’s relationship with Adam was not exclusive. In the early 1770s he was commissioned by Sir Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne and his wife Elizabeth, an heiress from Yorkshire, to furnish Melbourne House in London alongside the architect Sir William Chambers and at his country seat Brocket Hall under James Paine. This commission produced such masterpieces as the Panshanger cabinets, circa 1773 and a superb marquetry commode now at Renishaw Hall, which was sold at Christie’s in 1802.Coinciding with the publication of Christopher Gilbert’s seminal work, The Life and Works of Thomas Chippendale, published by Studio Vista and Christie’s in 1978, a loan exhibition was mounted here at King Street. Since then the ardour for masterpieces by Chippendale has grown. The genius of his design, the perfection of his execution and excelling in all mediums make Thomas Chippendale Britain’s greatest cabinet-maker. No fortune was amassed, far from it, instead he left us his creations, a much greater legacy. THE GENTLEMAN AND CABINET-MAKER'S DIRECTOR, 1762
CHIPPENDALE, Thomas (1718-1779). The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director: Being a large Collection of the Most Elegant and Useful Designs of Household Furniture, in the Most Fashionable Taste. London: for the Author, 1762.

成交价 英镑 32,500
估价
英镑 5,000 – 英镑 8,000
估价不包括买家酬金。成交总额为下锤价加以买家酬金及扣除可适用之费用。
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CHIPPENDALE, Thomas (1718-1779). The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director: Being a large Collection of the Most Elegant and Useful Designs of Household Furniture, in the Most Fashionable Taste. London: for the Author, 1762.

成交价 英镑 32,500
拍品终止拍卖: 2018年7月5日
成交价 英镑 32,500
拍品终止拍卖: 2018年7月5日
细节
CHIPPENDALE, Thomas (1718-1779). The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director: Being a large Collection of the Most Elegant and Useful Designs of Household Furniture, in the Most Fashionable Taste. London: for the Author, 1762.

Folio (448 x 272mm). Letterpress title and 200 engraved plates by Müller, Hemerich, Darly, Clowes, Taylor, Rooker, Foster, Morris, and Hulett after designs by Chippendale; this copy bound without a dedication leaf (a few neat repairs including one to engraved surface, some faint staining and one short tear in margins). Contemporary panelled calf, gilt-ruled with fleuron tool in corners, green morocco spine label lettered in gilt, other compartments with ornate gilt decoration (lightly scuffed in places, some expert restoration to joints and extremities). Provenance: inscription erased from title -- William Stephen (wright and cabinet-maker in Dundee, Scotland; ownership inscription dated 1788 noting purchase price of £4-4-0).

来源
William Stephen, a wright and cabinet-maker in Dundee, Scotland; the inscription is dated 1788 and notes a purchase price of £4 4s 0d.
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No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium.

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