History of Furniture: Chippendale Chinoiserie

For this portion of the History of Furniture, let's look at a furniture maker we have seen before...the legendary Thomas Chippendale, previously here, was the first furniture maker to have a style of furniture named after him instead of an English monarch! Born in 1718 in Otley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, he came from a long line of wood workers. Thomas was trained by his father, and it is presumed he apprenticed with the aptly-named York wood worker Richard Wood.

He moved to London and married Catherine Redshaw at St George's Chapel, Mayfair. And in 1754, Chippendale relocated to 60–62 St. Martin's Lane in London, where he operated his business for the next 60 years. This same year he published a book of his designs entitled "The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director," the first work of its kind solely devoted to the furniture and furnishing of the 18th century British interior, which made him instantly known. He tapped into a certain style that was popular at that time and became the most famous name in the history of English furniture at a time when such craftsmanship was at its zenith. Chippendale’s patrons included aristocracy, gentry and public figures.

His furniture designs include chairs, settees, tables, desks, mirrors, bookshelves, and cabinets. Chippendale designs fall into three main styles: Gothic, Rococo (called "modern" in the book), and Chinese. And while he operated his own workshop and crafted pieces of exquisite beauty, others made furniture and furnishings based on patterns in the "Cabinet Maker's Director," so the term Chippendale refers to English furniture of the 1750s and ’60s made in a modified Rococo style.

For this post, we are focusing on his Chinese-inspired designs, often referred to as Chinoiserie. Although the Silk Road--trade routes that connected Asia with the Middle East and Europe, facilitating the import of silks, jade and other precious stones, porcelain, tea, and spices--operated from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century, the Ottoman Empire closed off trade in 1453. Bits and pieces of Asian objects trickled out for the next hundred years or so and people in Europe became fascinated with furniture and architecture of Asian origin. English and European makers began interpreting these objects from mysterious, exotic locations, creating pieces that were clearly made with a European eye. This style came to be known as Chinoiserie...not actually Chinese (imported from China) but something "in the style of" objects from Asia.

But Thomas Chippendale hit it first and hit it well, with his Chinoiserie designs reigning. Fanciful pagoda shapes mixed with carved wood made to look like pieces of bamboo or rattan lashed, and other details that evoked how the English and Europeans saw--or rather imagined--life in Asia.

Left to right: Design for part of an overmantel and a
wall bracket, Thomas Chippendale, about 1760, London.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London;
Design for a chinoiserie-inspired chimney piece,
Thomas Chippendale, about 1760, London.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Settees, chairs, beds, stair rails, all with bamboo-like lattice work (or in the case of the black japanned tall boy seen below, images of an idealized, imagined world of pagoda roofs, Ho Ho birds, and bells): there are a few original Chippendale Chinoiserie pieces left but there are plenty of examples of pieces "in the Chippendale Chinoiserie style."

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Chippendale

In our last installment of History of Furniture, we examined what is known as the Adam Style, based on the work of brothers Robert and John Adam, here. So it seems right to examine a style that was happening just before, a style known as Chippendale.

Chippendale is the first style of furniture not be named after a monarch but after a cabinet maker, Thomas Chippendale, born in 1718 in Otley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Coming from a long line of wood workers, Thomas was trained by his father, and it is presumed he apprenticed with the aptly-named York wood worker Richard Wood.

He moved to London and married Catherine Redshaw at St George's Chapel, Mayfair. And in 1754, Chippendale relocated to 60–62 St. Martin's Lane in London, where he operated his business for the next 60 years. This same year he published a book of his designs entitled "The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director," the first work of its kind solely devoted to the furniture and furnishing of the 18th century British interior, which made him instantly known. He tapped into a certain style that was popular at that time and became the most famous name in the history of English furniture at a time when such craftsmanship was at its zenith. Chippendale’s patrons included aristocracy, gentry and public figures.

His furniture designs include chairs, settees, tables, desks, mirrors, bookshelves, and cabinets. Chippendale designs fall into three main styles: Gothic, Rococo (called "modern" in the book), and Chinese. And while he operated his own workshop and crafted pieces of exquisite beauty, others made furniture and furnishings based on patterns in the "Cabinet Maker's Director," so the term Chippendale refers to English furniture of the 1750s and ’60s made in a modified Rococo style.

Among his furniture designs, it is his chairs which garnered the most attention. Many of the Rococo designs were French in origin, but Chippendale modified some of them for the less flamboyant English market; among these are his French chairs, based on Louis XV designs.

Many of his chairs had yoked top railings and intricately pierced and carved back splats.

A feature of many Chippendale chairs is the ball-and-claw foot, so named for the literal claw holding a ball. This element left over from the Queen Anne period, seen here, also shows up on corner chairs, writing desks, and tall chests of drawers.

But Thomas Chippendale also espoused another simpler chair foot, the pad or club foot which looks much like a golf club.

Chippendale eventually developed an even simpler leg and foot: a square leg with a square foot called a Marlborough leg.

To honor his contributions and legacy, it is important to note that he was much more than cabinetmaker or furniture designer. He operated in the capacity of what would now be an interior designer although that term and job title did not exist at that time. He advised on all aspects of decor such as soft furnishings like rugs and drapery, and even the color a room should be painted. During Chippendale's period of greatest success, he worked with other specialists for the supply of fully decorated and furnished rooms or whole houses, once the principal construction was done. His son, Thomas Chippendale Jr. assumed management of the business in 1776 and worked in the emerging Neoclassical and Regency styles but eventually bankrupted the company in 1804.

There is a statue and memorial plaque dedicated to Chippendale outside The Old Grammar School Gallery in Manor Square, in his home town of Otley, near Leeds, Yorkshire. And in London, there is a full-size sculpted figure of Thomas Chippendale on the façade of the Victoria and Albert Museum created in 1906 by Albert Hodge.

Happy designing!