Alternative design for the library at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
attributed to Thomas Chippendale (Otley 1718 - London 1779)
Category
Architecture / Drawings
Date
c. 1764 - c. 1765
Materials
Paper, Pen, Ink
Measurements
410 x 465 mm
Collection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 960425
Summary
Alternative design for the Library at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire. Plan with design for the ceiling, and laid-out elevations Watermark: Strasburg lily Inscr: [above chimneypiece] 'A whole length Picture [in bookcase] The whole of / ye Middle part / to open and to be / ye door of ye room / ay have a green / Silk curtain'. Pen and ink within single-ruled border
Full description
Gervase Jackson-Stops in ‘Pre-Adam Furniture Designs at Nostell Priory’, Furniture History 10 (1974), pp. 24–37 suggested that this drawing may have been completed by a young Thomas Chippendale as an alternative design for a library proposed for Nostell before Robert Adam, probably in what is now the Billiard Room. However, no new supporting evidence has come to light to support this argument since its publication in 1974 and there is no reason to believe Chippendale had any connection to Nostell prior to 1766 (see 'Town and Country' by Kerry Bristol, Furniture History Society 23, p239). See also NT 960424 for an alternative version attributed to James Paine.
Provenance
Presumably acquired by Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Baronet (1739 - 1785), circa 1775 and thence by descent. Purchased as part of a collection of furniture and associated archive material by the National Trust in 1986 from the trustees of Rowland Winn, 4th Baron St Oswald (1918-1984), supported by a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
Marks and inscriptions
Centre: Watermark: Strasburg lily
Makers and roles
attributed to Thomas Chippendale (Otley 1718 - London 1779) , designer attributed to Thomas Chippendale (Otley 1718 - London 1779) , cabinetmaker
References
Jackson-Stops 1974: Gervase Jackson-Stops. “Pre-Adam furniture designs at Nostell Priory.” Furniture History 10 (1974): pp.24-37.