The Stourhead Picture Gallery Sofa Tables, 1802
Thomas Chippendale II (1749 - 1822)
Category
Furniture
Date
1802
Materials
Rosewood, satinwood, ebony, brass
Measurements
74 x 164 x 91.5 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 731546
Summary
A pair of large rosewood, satinwood and ebony banded sofa tables, by Thomas Chippendale the Younger (1749-1822) London 1802. Commissioned for the Picture Gallery at Stourhead by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. The rounded rectangular top incorporating twin hinged drop leaves above a pair of true frieze drawers to the front and a pair of false drawers to the back, raised on lyre shaped end supports with twist turned carved detail and each joining reeded cheval feet joined by a low stretcher and terminating on brass casters.
Full description
Chippendale’s account dated October 16 1802: ’2 unique large rosewood sofa tables banded with sattin wood with flaps and 2 drawers to each on quill’d claws with twisted harp ends highly finished on castors £55-‘ and '2 damask leather covers for ditto £2-8-‘ 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 sofa tables demonstrate exactly that and were made in 1802 for the Picture Gallery. 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 1802 for the Picture Gallery at Stourhead. Chippendale’s account dated October 16 1802: ’2 unique large rosewood sofa tables banded with sattin wood with flaps and 2 drawers to each on quill’d claws with twisted harp ends highly finished on castors £55-‘ and 2 damask leather covers for ditto £2-8-‘ ‘
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