The Stourhead Picture Gallery Satinwood Armchairs, 1802
Thomas Chippendale II (1749 - 1822)
Category
Furniture
Date
1802
Materials
Satinwood, ebony, cane, beech frame, horsehair and textile loose cushion
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 731545
Summary
A set of twelve satinwood and ebony strung cane seated open armchairs, by Thomas Chippendale the Younger (1749-1822) London 1802. Commissioned for the Picture Gallery at Stourhead by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. With a broad curved tablet top rail inlaid with rectangular ebony strung detail raised on square section back stiles and a cross stretcher, the reeded turned arm supports continuing to conforming turned tapered front legs, square section out swept rear legs and brass socket casters. Caned seat and later overstuffed horse hair loose cushion upholstered in yellow jasper satin.
Full description
Chippendale’s account dated October 16 1802: ’12 sattin wood arm chairs with broad pannelld tops ebony bands and carved patterns with cross barrs. Caned seats turned legs and on brass socket castors £5.14 £68-8-‘ and ’12 thick quilted cushions for ditto in fine linen £8-8’ Thomas Chippendale the Younger at Stourhead Sir Richard Colt Hoare employed Thomas Chippendale the Younger from 1795 to 1822 to supply furniture and furnishings for Stourhead in Wiltshire. The accounts submitted for his work are the largest known archive relating to Chippendale’s work. Out of the 163 pieces of furniture described in the accounts, 103 are still in the house, mostly in the rooms for which they were made. There was a fire in 1902 which destroyed the central part of Stourhead but fortunately most of the pictures and furniture from the ground floor were saved, the majority of the contents of the upper floors were destroyed. Chippendale the Younger worked with his father Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) for many years before the latter died. Much of the work he produced in the 1780s and 1790s continued the styles and techniques associated with the Chippendale firm. During these years he was completing or continuing commissions that the firm had been involved with including Harewood House, Nostell Priory, and Burton Constable, amongst others. The furniture supplied for Stourhead shows the continued high quality and attention to detail that was expected from the Chippendale workshops, linked with simplicity of decoration and clarity of line. These armchairs demonstrate exactly that and were made in 1802 for the Picture Gallery where they still stand today. See: Goodison, Judith ‘Thomas Chippendale the Younger at Stourhead’ Furniture History Society 2005 (Vol. 41) pp. 57-116 Gilbert, Christopher ‘The life and work of Thomas Chippendale’ London 1978 Vol.1 pp.235, 267 Beard, Geoffrey & Gilbert, Christopher ‘The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840’ Furniture History Society 1986 pg.169 James Weedon (December 2017)
Provenance
Commissioned by Sir Richard Colt Hoare from Thomas Chippendale the Younger in 1803 for the Picture Gallery at Stourhead. Chippendale’s account dated October 16 1802: ’12 sattin wood arm chairs with broad pannelld tops ebony bands and carved patterns with cross barrs. Caned seats turned legs and on brass socket castors £5.14 £68-8-‘ and ’12 thick quilted cushions for ditto in fine linen £8-8’
Makers and roles
Thomas Chippendale II (1749 - 1822), cabinet maker
References
Goodison, 2005: Judith Goodison. “Thomas Chippendale the younger at Stourhead.” Furniture History 31 (2005): pp.57-116, pp. 57-116 Gilbert, 1978: Christopher Gilbert. The life and work of Thomas Chippendale. London: Studio Vista: Christie’s, 1978., pp. 235, 267 Beard and Gilbert, 1986: Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert (ed), Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, pg.169