Open armchair
Thomas Chippendale II (1749 - 1822)
Category
Furniture
Date
1802
Materials
Rosewood, beech, cane seat, horsehair and textile seat cushion, brass castors
Measurements
86.9 x 59.8 x 60.5 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Stourhead, Wiltshire
NT 731560.1.1
Summary
One of a pair of rosewood and beech 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 strung detail raised on square section back stiles and a low horizontal stretcher, the reeded turned arm supports continuing to conforming turned tapered front legs, square section out swept rear legs and brass socket castors. Caned seat and later overstuffed horse hair loose cushion.
Full description
Chippendale's account dated 27th August 1802 reads '2 black rosewood arm chairs with broad panelld tops and yellow bands, caned seats turned feet and on castors £11-' and '2 black Spanish leather cushions welted with yellow and tyed down with silk tufts £5-10-' These chairs are very similar to the set of eight supplied to Stourhead in September of the same year. The only notable difference being that the eight are satinwood and ebony banded. Thomas Chippendale the Younger at Stourhead Sir Richard Colt Hoare employed Thomas Chippendale the Younger (1749-1822) 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. For further discussion and extensive published research see: Goodison, Judith ‘The life and work of Thomas Chippendale Junior’ PWP 2017 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 (January 2018)
Provenance
Commissioned by Sir Richard Colt Hoare from Thomas Chippendale the Younger in 1802 for the Picture Gallery at Stourhead. Given to the National Trust along with Stourhead House, its grounds, and the rest of the contents by Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Bt (1865 – 1947) in 1946.
Makers and roles
Thomas Chippendale II (1749 - 1822), cabinetmaker
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 Goodison, 2017: Judith Goodison, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale Junior, PWP London & New York 2017