Window cornice
workshop of Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner)
Category
Fixtures and fittings
Date
circa 1771
Materials
Softwood, limewood, gesso, composition, gilt, paint
Measurements
190 cm (Width) x 30 cm (Depth)
Place of origin
St. Martin's Lane
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 959754.1
Summary
A window cornice, one of a pair of green-painted and parcel-gilt window cornices, attributed to either Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771) or Chippendale, Haig & Co. (fl. 1771 - 1779) and made to match the 'India' and japanned green furniture made for the 'Ante room' and the 'Alcove Bedchamber' at Nostell Priory in 1771. Both topped by a moulding carved with gilt lotus leaves and with a green and gilt lambrequin lower edge, each cusp carved with a pair of gilt bellflowers.
Full description
A bill of 6th May 1771 records '2 neat carv'd Cornices Japan'd Green and Gold...£8 8s 0d' and 'A Carv'd Cornice for the Window in the little Room finish'd as the other...£4 4s 0d'. This is the bill which also invoices for the japanned dressing stools, the japanned sofa and the japanned bed which now stand either in the State Bedchamber or State Dressing Room at Nostell. There are, however, several pairs of matching window cornices at Nostell [i.e. NT 959789.1 & .2] in the Small Drawing Room, so it is impossible to distinguish whether these are the cornices mentioned in the accounts. This design matches the cornice to the bed, made by Chippendale, and now standing in the 'State Dessing Room'. (Entry adapted by Megan Wheeler, February 2018)
Provenance
Probably purchased by Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Baronet, in 1771 and thence by descent until accepted by HM Treasury in lieu of death duties on the estate of Rowland Winn, 4th Baron Oswald (1916 - 1984), in 1986.
Makers and roles
workshop of Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), cabinetmaker workshop of Chippendale, Haig & Co. (fl. 1771 - 1779), cabinetmaker
References
Gilbert (1978): Christopher Gilbert, The Life & Work of Thomas Chippendale (1978), 2 volumes., Volume I, p. 191, p. 172; Volume II, Figure 519 Boynton and Goodison, 1969: Lindsay Boynton and Nicholas Goodison, 'The furniture of Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory', Burlington Magazine III, May 1969: pp. 281-5., 282 Boynton and Goodison, 1968: Lindsay Boynton, and Nicholas Goodison. “Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory.” Furniture History 4 (1968): pp.10-61., 57