The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, vol. 06, No. 05, May 1900: Chippendale Chairs — John Shaqi
The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, vol. 06, No. 05, May 1900: Chippendale ChairsVarious
History
The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, vol. 06, No. 05, May 1900: Chippendale Chairs
Various
Architecture -- Periodicals
The chairs chosen for illustration in this number are of the simpler
patterns. It will be seen that they have very little ornament, and that
this is almost entirely confined to the backs, the legs being in most
cases square and plain. In the backs the same lines occur as in those
made in the time of William III., but instead of the frame of the back
being covered with silk, tapestry or other material, Chippendale's are
cut open with fanciful patterns. Those with cabriole legs usually have
claw feet and a shell or leaf at the top. The chairs in Chippendale's
book are much more elaborate than those here illustrated or than
those he ordinarily produced. This is naturally accounted for by the
desire to induce customers to purchase the more expensive pieces. The
simple square leg without taper is one of the distinctive marks of
Chippendale's time. Later in the century, in the work of Hepplewhite
and others, the legs were made more tapering and the whole chair
much lighter and more elaborately ornamented to correspond with the
Renaissance forms then in vogue. The turned leg is rarely found,
although much used later. The shaping and ornamentation is generally
confined to the front legs. Mahogany, as has been stated, was the wood
most used, and the ornamentation was confined as a rule to carving.
Inlay and marquetry, brass and ormolu were employed on other articles
of furniture, but the chairs rarely have such ornament.
The rococo of Chippendale's earlier work, corresponding to the French
of Louis XV. and XVI., was succeeded by a modification tending towards
the severer Renaissance, influenced by the designs of the architects,
Robert and James Adam, who gave their attention to the minutest details
of interior decoration and furnishing, as well as the larger problems
of architecture. Of Chippendale's contemporaries, Ince and Mayhew, who
also published a book of designs, are now looked upon as most deserving
to share his fame, although there are records of many others.
Hepplewhite forms a connecting link between this period and that of the
more severe lines of Sheraton and Shearer. Sheraton was a skilled and
cultivated man and an excellent draughtsman. Among the subscribers to
his book, "The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book," published
in 1793, are the names and addresses of no less than four hundred and
fifty cabinet-makers, chairmakers and carvers, not including musical
instrument makers, upholsterers and other kindred trades. This gives
some idea of the extent to which such books were then employed, and the
number of makers whose work is not now distinguishable and whose names
are lost in oblivion. Following the work of these men came the "Empire"
style introduced in France after the French Revolution.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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