Design for a picture frame - circa 1776/7
Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner)
Category
Architecture / Drawings
Date
circa 1767
Materials
Paper, pen, pencil, watercolour wash
Measurements
560 x 443 mm
Place of origin
St. Martin's Lane
Collection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 960945
Summary
A pen, pencil and yellow wash drawing of a picture frame, by Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), circa 1766 - 7. Inscribed 'N.B. The Coloured part is burnished Gold the other part all Dead'. This is a reference to the variegated gilding with which the frame was once decorated.
Full description
The frame for which this was a design survives (NT 960762) and surrounds the picture of Cleopatra bitten by an Asp, after Guido Reni (1575 - 1642) (NT 960076). The painting was bought by Sir Rowland Winn from Lord Macclesfield in 1766 after which it hung in his bedchamber in 11 St. James' Square, before being removed to Nostell Priory under Chippendale's supervision in November 1767. It was moved in its original frame and then rehung in what was then Sabine Winn's Dressing Room, which also served as a picture cabinet. Christopher Gilbert, writing in 1978, noted that 'the frame itself has not survived'. However, it is now clear that the current frame is the Chippendale original, but much altered in the 1820s by Thomas Ward of 67 Frith Street, Soho Square, who was employed by Charles Winn (d. 1874) in the late 1810s and 1820s. Ward re-gilded the frame and removed its apron and cresting (to allow it to still hang above an enlarged fireplace) and added floral paterae made of composition. The removed parts were discovered in store at Nostell in the early 21st century (NT 960948). For further discussion, see: 'A Lost Picture Frame by Thomas Chippendale' by Christopher Rowell, Furniture History Society Vol 54 (2018) & 'The Life & Works of Thomas Chippendale' Vol 1& 2 by Christopher Gilbert, 1978. (vol 1: p168, vol 2: Fig 310 pp172-3). See also NT 960506 and NT 960507 for further drawings attributed to Chippendale which may be related to this one.
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
The coloured part is burnished Gold the other part all Dead
Makers and roles
Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), designer Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), cabinetmaker
References
Gilbert, 1978: Christopher Gilbert. The life and work of Thomas Chippendale. London: Studio Vista: Christie’s, 1978., Vol. I, pp. 168, 177, 181, 186; Vol. II, p. 173, Figure 310