Wednesday 5 June 2013

The Thomas Chippendale Factor ~ Happy 295th birthday Sir!

Oh how I so love classic periodic furniture. I mean the ones that take us back in time. And never go out of fashion

And today is a very significant day as we mark Thomas Chippendale's life!

Thomas Chippendale's 295th Birthday
Image Credit: google.co.uk

And I so love Google's Doodle. Trust them to come up trumps. All well-known Chippendale furniture pieces 'doodly' represented here!

So, who was THOMAS CHIPPENDALE? 
He was a very famous 18th century English cabinet maker as well as a furniture designer. And he's from Yorkshire, just like me :-) I wrote a piece about him for one of Interior Design Diploma assignments which is reproduced below
 "He was well known for making furniture that was more functional thus concentrating on strength over appearance. Quite famous for his cabriole legs with the carved claw and ball foot that were popular on his chairs and dining tables He loved using acanthus leaf as carved designs and pierced urn shaped splats on chairs. His style commonly featured elaborate lines and embellishments

Chippendale published a book called “the Gentlemans’ and Cabinet-Makers’ Director”. This served like an advertising journal for tradesmen.
He also had a Chinese style, sometimes called Chinoiserie which featured pagodas, bamboo turnings, claw-and-ball feet, intricate latticework and lacquering. Then finally, he had a Gothic influenced style that contained pointed arches, quatrefoils and fret-worked legs.Chippendale was best known for his desks and secretaries and he was the first to design the Pembroke table which had a drop-leaf design with an oblong or rectangular fixed centrepiece which contained a drawer underneath.Thomas Chippendale loved using Rococo, Chinese and Gothic influences and representing this in his furniture by including motifs like shells, rocks, foliage, flowers  and C scrolls..  His was a master carver with designs typically being made of His later works had French-Chinese and Gothic influences
."
And now I share some of his most beautifully designed furniture ......

Lovely Jappened Chippendale wardrobe in Green and Gold at Nostell Priory.

Image credit:  nttreasurehunt.wordpress.com via Pinterest

A couple of "Chippendale" armchairs 

Image credit: tdclassicist.blogspot.com via Pinterest

Now this I adore. Rococo inspired Chippendale mirror adorned with flowers, birds, leaves and bulrushes.
Image Credit: furniturestyles.net via Pinterest

This lovely corner cabinet with chinoiserie detailing, I believe, was made for the actor David Garrick 1768  - 1778. 

Image credit: vam.ac.uk via Pinterest
}My take on Thomas Chippendale ~ His furniture pieces are classics, their value has appreciated a lot over time and I wouldn't mind owning a piece of history one day!~ 

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