Window cornice
possibly Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner)
Category
Fixtures and fittings
Date
circa 1769 - circa 1770
Materials
Softwood, limewood, gesso, composition, gilding
Measurements
17 x 200 cm
Place of origin
St. Martin's Lane
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 959789.1
Summary
A window cornice, one of a pair of ebonized and parcel-gilt window cornices, possibly by Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), and possibly supplied for Sabine Winn's Bedchamber in 1769 or 1770. Both topped by a moulding carved with gilt lotus leaves and with an ebonized and gilt lambrequin lower edge, each cusp carved with a pair of gilt bellflowers.
Full description
Several pairs of cornices of this design are installed at Nostell Priory - a green-painted pair hangs in the State Bedchamber [NT 959754.1 & .2] - and it is difficult to distinguish one from the other in surviving records. They are considered by Chippendale scholars to be the originals (Gilbert, 1978). The use of composition in their decoration suggests that they may be later copies. (Megan Wheeler, February 2018)
Provenance
Probably purchased by Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Baronet in 1769 or 1770 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), 1986.
Makers and roles
possibly Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), cabinet maker
References
Gilbert (1978): Christopher Gilbert, The Life & Work of Thomas Chippendale (1978), 2 volumes., Volume I, 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. Boynton and Goodison, 1968: Lindsay Boynton, and Nicholas Goodison. “Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory.” Furniture History 4 (1968): pp.10-61., 57