CHIPPENDALE.
In studying the various periods into which different makes of furniture
may be divided, the accentuating of one point, say of ornaments or the
structural peculiarities, is noted, not as being sharply defined, but
as being a gradual growth. Chippendale did not originate at first.
Indeed, he hardly adapted, for the East India trade had brought to
market Chinese designs which he used, and French furniture was so
popular that he copied bodily in his book such designs as pleased him,
although the term "French chairs," as employed at this time, referred
to their being upholstered and not to the style or decoration. Thomas
Johnson published a book about the middle of the eighteenth century, in
which was a medley of French, Gothic and Chinese designs, many of which
have a strong family likeness to Chippendale's. There was also Matthias
Lock, who began to publish his books as early as 1740, dedicated to
such "nobility as would stand for him." These books included one on
Pier Frames, Girandoles, Tables, etc., also, one on Ornaments and
Sconces, all of which were characteristic of what was considered
desirable at this time, and which style Chippendale followed too. Ince
& Mayhew published what they called a "Universal System of Household
Furnishing." They made many designs, over three hundred, and not
only set forth the fine taste in which they were conceived, but gave
the workmen directions for executing them. They positively ran wild on
"Chinese taste," their fretwork and combination of Chinese and Gothic
being perfectly extravagant. Like Chippendale they designed terms, or
as we should call them pedestals, for busts, toilet-tables, bookcases,
many mirror-frames, and chairs most intricate in their carved backs,
with ribbon-work, scrolls, and elaborate patterns in brass nails.
[Illustration: Figure 18. KITCHEN, WAYSIDE INN, SUDBURY, MASS. ]
What were known as "overdoors" were very carefully designed by
Chippendale, Ince & Mayhew, Robert Manwaring, and later by the Adam
Brothers. These overdoors were the wood or leadwork into which glass
was set, to go above front doors.
William Halfpenny, carpenter and architect, as he called himself,
published many works on Furniture, Temples, Garden Seats, Windows,
Doors, Obelisks, etc., beginning in 1719. Among the many books are
these two, "Twenty New Designs of Chinese Lattice and Other Works for
Staircases, Gates, Failings, etc.," and also, "Chinese and Gothic
Architecture." So fond were the Halfpennys (for the son was later
associated with the father) of Chinese work that they seldom missed
an opportunity of putting in a Chinese figure. On their ceilings,
above the chimney-pieces--everywhere that decoration could be crowded
in,--one is apt to find a Chinese mandarin with pigtail and umbrella.
The originality of Chippendale soon spoke for itself. He worked in so
many styles, and has so grown in estimation, that his name is made
to cover the greatest variety of designs. When he first came before
the public his work met with much adverse criticism. Isaac Ware, a
contemporary, writes of him thus:
"It is our misfortune at this time to see an unmeaning scrawl of
C's inverted and looped together, taking the place of Greek and
Roman elegance even in our most expensive decorations."
But the early extravagances of his designs were soon modified, and
even they were touched with a grace which made them pleasing to the
eye while wholly extravagant. His better and more familiar work is
to-day the model upon which cabinet-workers rely, no one having arisen
who can improve on his designs. Thousands of pieces of furniture are
called by his name, both in this country and England, which were not
even contemporary with this maker and bear no resemblance either to his
designs or to work known to be his.
About the time that Chippendale came on the field (1750) it had become
the custom for architects and designers to publish catalogues of their
designs. Thomas Chippendale, a progressive business man, was not behind
his contemporaries, so in 1754 he published his catalogue, which he
called "The Gentleman's and Cabinet-Maker's Director." It was a very
successful publication, passed through several editions, and brought
him added name and fame. It sold for £3 13_s._ 6_d._, and had fine
copper-plate engravings. The title page of Chippendale's "Director,"
specifies designs for the following pieces of furniture:
"Chairs, Sofas, Beds and Couches, China-Tables, Bason-Tables
and Tea-Kettle Stands, Frames for Marble Slabs,
Bureau-Dressing-Tables, and Library-Tables, Library Bookcases,
Organ Cases for Private Rooms or Churches, Desks and Bookcases,
Dressing and Writing-Tables with Bookcases, Toilets, Cabinets, and
Clothes-Presses.
China-Cases, China-Shelves, and Book-Shelves, Candle-Stands and
Terms for Busts, Stands for China Jars and Pedestals, Cisterns
for Water, Lanthorns, and Chandeliers, Fire-Screens, Brackets
and Clock-Cases, Pier-Glasses and Table-Frames, Girandoles
Chimney-Pieces and Picture-Frames, Stove-Grates, Boarders, Frets,
Chinese-Railing and Brass-Work for Furniture."
[Illustration: Figure 19. CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS]
At this period the best room or "saloon" was wainscotted chair high,
and the remainder prepared for wall-paper, or battened for hangings of
silk or tapestry. Chippendale drew many beautiful designs, which he
calls "borders for paper-hangings," and which were used as finishings
at the top of the paper. Some of them were also employed as patterns
for carving, or work in stucco painted and gilded.
It must be remembered that Chippendale was par excellence a carver
of wood, and so we find him working almost exclusively in "solid
mahogany," as we have come to call it, which wood had been introduced
into England about the time of Raleigh (1595), though it was not used
to any extent as a material for furniture until about twenty-five years
before Chippendale published his book. Indeed it seems to have been
used in America for this purpose quite as soon as in England, although
there are in that country a few detached pieces of mahogany furniture
made late in 1600, showing that some wood had been imported before
Raleigh caused it to be brought in more freely, along with "tabac" and
the potato, which latter vegetable was first grown at Sir Walter's
estate called "Youghal," near Cork, Ireland. Sir Walter did not use
the new wood in his own beautiful house, but had splendidly carved oak
chimney-pieces and furniture made by men whom he brought from Flanders
for that purpose.
At the time Chippendale published his book he was about forty years
old, as it is generally supposed that he was born about 1710. Worcester
is given as the place of his birth, and authorities state that other
members of his family practiced the art of wood-carving before him, but
the information about his early history is very scant. His shop was in
St. Martin's Lane, London, and he employed as many as a hundred men,
so it is rather strange that more authentic specimens of his handiwork
have not survived. While mahogany was the wood which he used chiefly
for his furniture, he employed a close-set pine for carving many of
the beautiful floriated mirror-frames for which he was so justly
celebrated. Scrolls, flower and leaves, falling water, and a particular
bird of his own fancy, with a long and prominent beak, were employed in
the decoration of these mirrors, which were richly gilded, the ornament
being entirely of wood without the addition of porcelain plaques or
metal work, which was such a feature of the French furniture of this
period, the influence of which is noticeable in many of Chippendale's
designs. It is true that he did not carry out some of his designs,
notably such pieces as the state beds, etc., after the style of Louis
XV. One glance at the "Director" will show how impossible these beds
were. The top, supported on posts, rises like Ossa upon Pelion piled,
with layers or terraces of carved figures of children, rock-work, and
everything else, the whole crowned by groups consisting of several
figures and animals.
[Illustration: Figure 20. CHIPPENDALE CHAIR.]
His designs for bedposts show the French influence, being fluted and
wreathed with flowers. Many stand flat on the ground without ornamental
feet, and are plain on top to support a canopy or tester.
Most successful of all the furniture designed by this maker are the
chairs, many of them decorated with graceful scroll-work and delicate
garlands of flowers, though the styles with which we are most familiar
are massive, heavy pieces with carving upon them, and either with
or without solid underbraces. A unique piece is shown in Figure 20.
This chair is thought to have been imported into this country about
1760, but I should suppose it to be a very much earlier example of
Chippendale's work, while he was still content to copy, for the front
legs show the bear's paw while the rear ones are the familiar Dutch
foot.
It belongs to the South Carolina College, at Columbia, S. C. and
was given to it by General Preston about 1850. In his letter of
presentation he calls it "the quasi throne of the Colonial Governors
of South Carolina," but beyond this its history is unknown. This chair
is of solid mahogany as most of these chairs were, and shows about the
edges of the carving traces of the chisel-marks, a not at all unusual
feature in these old hand-carved pieces. The splat (_i. e._ the central
part of the back) is plainly pierced. The term "cabriole", which we
apply now to the leg, in Chippendale's time referred to a chair having
a stuffed back. It has generally been supposed that Chippendale was the
originator of the ball-and-claw foot, which is of two varieties, but
he copied this style of decoration directly from the Dutch. The foot
in this chair is what is known as the "bear's paw", so called from
the fur which is rudely carved above the foot. The other style being
the "bird's claw." The chairs with cabriole legs were called bandy or
bow-legged when they first came into use, about 1700, which is also
about the time that easy-chairs were first used in bedrooms. Up to that
date chairs had been rather severe and of the nature of stools and
settles. As writing became better learned there was a demand for dainty
and ornamental desks for ladies' use, as well as library desks for men,
and bookcases were also needed.
In Chippendale's book, "The Gentleman's and Cabinet-Maker's Director",
while there are designs given for every imaginable piece of furniture,
there is not a single illustration of the ball-and-claw or hoof foot;
yet it is known by authentic pieces, coming down as late as 1780, and
preserved in the South Kensington Museum, London, that such work was
done by him. Further than this, we are used to consider mahogany as
pre-eminently the wood he worked in, yet in this same guide this wood
is mentioned by him but once.
"Six designs of chairs for Halls, Passages, or Summer-houses. They
may be made either of mahogany or any other wood, and painted, and
have commonly wooden seats."
All this fine solid mahogany furniture made by Chippendale, and by
which his name is so firmly perpetuated, was regarded by him as merely
commercial work. What he really took a pride in was very fussy, covered
with upholstery, with an abundance of carving and gilding, and even
metal work on the exposed parts. Rosewood was used by him also, with
elaborate carving which was sometimes embellished with gilt, or, in
cases where great elegance was demanded, by brass, copper, or silver
mounts richly chased. He turned out many pieces of soft wood japanned
or painted, and decorated also with gilt and colours.
Little of this furniture ever came to America. It was made to order
for the nobility and gentry, and its immense cost rendered it possible
only for the very wealthy. Among the two hundred copper-plate designs
given in Chippendale's book, quite a large portion of them are in what
is known as "Chinese taste," which had taken the world of fashion by
storm. Sir William Chambers, who had travelled in China, is given the
credit for having introduced this style into furniture and decoration,
which was further adapted by Chippendale and other makers, but it was
already known before Chambers's day. Both Chambers and Robert Adam,
the best architects of their day, were Scotchmen. Chambers was born
in 1726, and from his earliest years had a love for the sea. This
induced him to make a voyage to Canton, where he made innumerable
notes and sketches of furniture, buildings, and gardens, which he made
full use of later. In 1759 he published his book "The Decorative Part
of Civil Architecture," which was most successful. He was appointed
drawing-master to the Prince of Wales, afterward George III., and
managed to retain the royal favor for the rest of his life. He not only
designed many houses for wealthy patrons and altered many others, but
he was afterward appointed landscape gardener at Kew, and knighted.
The older Chinese furniture which one sees in Europe dates from the
eighteenth century, and was made for and imported by the Dutch; hence
the medley of styles. Elaborate bedsteads, tables, and cabinets were
decorated with ivory figures in relief. There is furniture of this
description in the United States, splendidly carved out of cedar and
decorated with hundreds of tiny figures of men and women carved from
ivory and set on. Such a piece is shown in Figure 21, the original of
which is at Memorial Hall, Philadelphia.
Not only was Chinese furniture in wood and wicker brought from the
Orient, but the Dutch, whom we have come to look upon as ready
imitators, followed Oriental styles not only in furniture but in
pottery as well. Chippendale specifies nine of his designs for chairs
in Chinese style as proper for a lady's dressing-room, especially if
it were hung with an India paper. They were likewise recommended for
Chinese temples. These chairs commonly have cane bottoms with loose
cushions, but if required may be stuffed and have brass nails.
As early as 1711 Addison comments on the motley confusion heaped
up in a lady's library, where there were few books but "Munkies,
Mandarins, and Scaramouches" without end; and to keep these ornaments
in countenance was also furniture made after Chinese designs.
[Illustration: Figure 21. CARVED CEDAR TABLE.]
Besides these styles Chippendale also used a modification of the
Gothic, notably in such places as the doors of cabinets, or the doors
and the tops of bookcases. Horace Walpole, in his little Gothic villa
at Strawberry Hill, had awakened a still further taste for a revival
of Gothic designs; and everybody, to be in the mode, had their cabinet
doors and bookcases with embattled tops and Gothic tracery. Of all
the styles Chippendale adopted and adapted, this one left the least
enduring trace. More successful were his bookcases based on Louis XV.
style. They are of mahogany and have the rococo ornaments peculiar to
this style. This work shows off gilding admirably. These bookcases with
drawers and desk, as well as the bureaus, were used in bedrooms which
were often boudoirs and studies as well. So a receptacle which could be
quickly locked was quite necessary.
In Chippendale's catalogue are directions given for many small
articles which were much in demand and highly fashionable when the
book was written, but for which the present day and generation has
no use. Such were the charming little tea-caddies with brass handles
and locks, stands for candles, or china jars or animals with which
the drawing-rooms of those days were crowded. There were also carved
brackets, decorated with the bird we have spoken of before, and
exquisite foliated designs making graceful adornments for any room,
and often neglected in sales where other and better-known examples of
this period bring fabulous prices. When carved in pine these brackets
are always gilded, but occasionally they may be obtained in walnut and
mahogany.
The designs for such pieces are largely original with Chippendale,
for their use had just become needed, and we must remember besides
that it was Chippendale's misfortune to live in a transition period,
and that the rococo which preceded him, and by which his first work
was influenced, died very hard. Indeed his first style might be
called rococo, and the designs swelled and bulged, were covered with
meaningless and fantastic ornament, and ran riot through all styles
and countries. It had for its chief merit the fact that it was executed
with great delicacy and beauty and had a grace about it which was
always pleasing. The two sides of a design are seldom alike, and the
merit of such pieces is due purely to the skill of the carver. Yet it
was under his skilful hand that later the beauty of simplicity was once
more proved, and he sought classic models for his inspiration. Speaking
himself of designs for French chairs he says, "for greater variety the
feet and elbows are different." The moulding around the bottom of the
edge of the rails also comes under his consideration, and he mentions
Spanish leather or damask as good material for covering chairs.
He it was who exemplified the principle that each part of a piece of
furniture should be adapted to its use, and that overloading an article
with ornament did not necessarily add to its beauty. After his rococo
period came the rage for Chinese designs, and lastly the plain and
solid style with which we are familiar.
Two very handsome chairs are shown in Figure 22, the side chair showing
an abundance of exquisite carving on the knees and in the splat. It is
wonderful what variety he encompassed working in the small space and
confined shape of this part of a chair. It will be observed that in all
the chairs shown no two splats are alike.
[Illustration: Figure 22. CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS.]
All the construction of the Chippendale furniture of the last period
is remarkably solid and of the first order, and the wood is of a dark
and rich mahogany. The best pieces of this period are those in which
the originality of the designer had full play, and when he was not
influenced by either the French or Oriental taste. The furniture of
this period, fine and free in design, was well adapted to the fashions
and mode of life of the people for whom it was made. He retained the
roomy character of the Dutch furniture, which was needed for the style
of dress affected by both sexes. The Spanish furniture of oak, with
cane work or leather, introduced by Catherine of Braganza, was not the
only innovation brought to England by that lady, for Evelyn says in his
"Diary" for May 30, 1662,
"The Queene ariv'd with a traine of Portuguese ladies in their
monstrous fardingals or guard-infantas ... Her Majesty in the same
habit, her foretop long and curiously turn'd aside."
In the next forty years fashions changed,--they changed slowly in those
days,--and among other things laid at the door of "Good Queen Anne"
may be added the hoop-skirt. Flowered and damask gowns were worn over
it, and in the "Spectator" of 1712 a number of gowns are advertised
for sale, all the property of Mr. Peter Paggen, of Love Lane, near
Eastcheap, London. Among them is an "Isabella-coloured kincob gown,
flowered with green and gold; a purple and gold Atlas gown with a
scarlet and gold Atlas petticoat edged with silver."
A little later in the century a lady's gown was all ruffles and
flounces, in fact "every part of the garment was in curl, and caused a
lady of fashion to look like one of those animals which in the country
we call a Friesland hen."
The reigns of the first two Georges had Hogarth for their illustrator,
and in the set of drawings called "Marriage à la Mode" we see the
hoods, skirts without trains, unruffled and often accompanied by a
sack, or something between a cloak and a gown, and called a mantua.
During the reign of George I. there was no queen to set the fashion, so
it changed little. In 1735 Caroline, queen of George II. on the king's
birthday appeared in a "beautiful suit made of silk of the produce
of Georgia, and the same was acknowledged to excel that of any other
country." The ladies who accompanied her wore flowered silks of various
colours, of a large pattern, but mostly with a white ground, with wide
short sleeves and short petticoats. These gowns were often pinned up
behind in fantastic fashion, and generally quite narrow. It was also
_à la mode_ to wear gold or silver nets on the petticoats, and to face
and guard the robes with them and even to wear them on sleeves. Lady
Harcourt, a famous beauty of Caroline's court, wore on one occasion
a "white ground rich silk, embossed with gold and silver, and fine
coloured flowers of a large pattern."
What we know as a morning-gown they called, in the middle of the
eighteenth century a nightgown, and we read of a "garnet-coloured
lustring nightgown with a tobine stripe of green and white, trimmed
with floss of the same colour and lined with straw-coloured
lutestring." A gay garment truly.
These were the styles in vogue when Chippendale began to design and
make furniture for his patrons, whom he desired to see among the most
fashionable. While the ladies were so gay, the gentlemen were quite
as elegant, with three-cornered hats, wigs and patches, embroidered
waistcoats, with stiffened skirts to their coats, knee-breeches, silk
stockings, and snuff-boxes. Such modish people could not bestow
themselves comfortably in chairs with arms, so chairs without arms, and
tabourets, as they were called, were quite necessary for comfort. The
fashionable ailment of the day, for men at least was gout, and we find
designs for "gouty stools," in which the top could be raised or lowered
as best suited the needs of the patient. His designs for sofas made
these articles of great size; they ran from six feet nine inches to ten
feet long. His ideas as to decoration seem amusing, for he mentions
that the carvings on the sofa should be emblematic of Watchfulness,
Assiduity, and Rest.
Wine-coolers for which Chippendale made many designs, sometimes had
brass bands around them which had the effect of making them look very
heavy and clumsy. Coolers of this style were round or oval, but some
of better design were oblong or square. Numbers of beautiful little
tea-tables, or tea-poys, as they were often called, were also made by
Chippendale, and what he called in his book of designs "candle stands"
were no doubt sometimes put to this use, though their height--he says
they should run from three feet six inches to four feet six inches,
rendered the taller ones awkward. Figure 23 shows a very beautiful
example of one of these stands richly carved. The post is three feet
seven and a half inches high, and the hexagonal top has a standing rim
of very delicate carving. The little tea-stand next to it has also a
slight rim, and some carving on the pedestal and feet. The music-stand
is not a usual piece, and has a cupboard and drawer to contain the
sheets. All three pieces are of mahogany and belong to the collection
at Memorial Hall, Philadelphia.
Many of these tables or stands made their way to America, for
tea-drinking was a great resource for the ladies. As early as 1720
Bohea tea was selling at Philadelphia for thirty shillings a pound. Its
great cost prohibited its common use, and it was not until much later
that it became common, so the greatest treat that could be offered to a
neighbour was a drink of tea, particularly if the proud housewife could
serve it out of a tiny porcelain cup without a handle, such cups being
almost as great a rarity as the tea.
The little rim which set up above the edge of the table was intended
to prevent the tea furniture from falling off. These tables are
occasionally seen in America in their simpler forms. There are special
ones made to order for customers by Chippendale, which are seldom
allowed to leave the families for which they were originally made.
There are two such tea-tables made in "Chinese taste" with fretwork
legs, sides to the table, and the little standing rim to protect the
china. One of these tables was made for the great-grandmother of the
present owner, by Chippendale, and has come down in a state of perfect
preservation. It is held in England, is thirty-nine and three-eighths
inches high, the top is thirty-two by twenty-one and five-eighths
inches.
Chippendale, in his book, gives very elaborate directions for preparing
the wood from which this fretwork carving was to be made. In order to
have it as strong as possible he advises the use of three thin sheets
of wood glued together, the grain to run in opposite directions, and
the fret carving to be made in this. He particularly recommends this
use of glued wood for such pieces as China-Cases, which were largely
fretwork with pagodas on top and hanging ornaments at the sides.
[Illustration: Figure 23. CHIPPENDALE CANDLE, TEA AND MUSIC STANDS.]
Card-tables were also made in great varieties and numbers by this
same maker, and his graceful designs were copied by other and less
well-known makers, so that these tables, at least in "Chippendale
style," are not uncommon. His card-tables were of two styles, with
leaves which folded together on top when not in use, and a plain oblong
table without leaves. As card-playing was one of the most fashionable
pursuits of the day in England, which fashion was followed with
becoming promptitude by us. It is seen that many of these tables were
needed to accommodate the gay world. Those most esteemed were the kind
with leaves, which could seat a larger party than the oblong ones, and
which, when not in use, could be folded together and set against the
wall. Both styles, when made by Chippendale, were decorated only with
carving. During the last half of the eighteenth century there were
probably few families who did not own at least one card-table.
Gambling at cards had always been an amusement at courts, and there
were many games in vogue. Ombre had been introduced in the previous
century by Catherine of Braganza, and quadrille was another favorite
game of hers. Pepys under date of February 17, 1666-7, alludes to the
fact that Catherine played not only on week days but on Sundays as well.
"This evening, going to the Queene's side to see the ladies, I
did find the Queene, the Duchesse of York, and another or two
at cards, with the room full of great ladies and men, which I
was amazed at to see of a Sunday, having not believed it, but
contrarily, flatly denied the same a little while since to my
cosen Roger Pepys."
The next reign, that of James II., saw basset introduced, and it
retained its popularity through several reigns and was still the mode
when Queen Anne occupied the throne. It broke "into her hours by day as
well as by night," and the drain on the privy purse was excessive, for
the queen was a good loser. The Cocoa-Tree Club, at No. 64 St. James
Street, London, was, during Queen Anne's reign, a regular gambling-den.
Walpole says:
"Within this week there has been a cast at hazard at the
Cocoa-Tree, the difference of which amounted to £180,000."
By George II.'s reign cards were universal. The preface to the "Court
Gamster" says:
"Gaming has become so much the fashion that he who in company
should be ignorant of the games in vogue would be reckoned
low-bred and hardly fit for conversation."
The Princess Amelia Sophia, daughter of George II., was an inveterate
snuff-taker as well as gambler. Horace Walpole, who was often invited
to make one at her card parties, has left many graphic pictures of her.
At Bath the card-tables were one of the chief attractions, and the sums
of money staked during a single night seem prodigious. But of all the
Georges, George IV. had the most reckless propensities. Before he was
twenty-one years old he had lost £800,000, one of his boon companions
being that confirmed gamester, Charles James Fox.
Almack's was a famous gambling-club, opened in 1764. The gamesters
began by pulling off their velvet and embroidered coats, putting on
frieze garments, and pulling leather sleeves over their lace ruffles.
High-crowned, broad-brimmed straw hats were worn to shade their eyes
from the light, to keep their hair from being tumbled, and perhaps to
conceal their emotions.
[Illustration: Figure 24. CHIPPENDALE CARD-TABLE.]
George II. was still on the throne when Chippendale published his
"Director," and in such a gambling age it is no wonder that he made
many card-tables in order to please his patrons. Not alone at court
were they in demand, but one has only to read such transcripts of the
times as Jane Austen's or Miss Burney's novels to find that nearly
every country family sat down of an evening to a quiet hand at cards.
Following at a distance, but as well as they were able, the fashions
set at court, Americans too played cards, and Chippendale's tables
were sent across the ocean and were copied by colonial cabinet-makers,
who by this time had become very successful workers themselves.
Contemporary letters, which describe the propensity of the ladies to
play loo all day as well as all night were, no doubt, too extravagant.
On the great plantations at the South, gambling was said to be a
favorite diversion, and piquet, écarté, faro, hazard, and basset were
played, as well as less exciting games. Besides the tables with plain
polished surfaces, some were covered with a green cloth. Others had
pockets to hold the counters, which were old silver Spanish pieces or
were made of mother-of-pearl. These tables were valued highly, the
early ones being walnut, the later mahogany. In some of the inventories
already quoted mention is made of various styles of playing-cards which
were imported by the gross, as well as "pearl fish," which were the
fashionable counters.
In Figure 24 a very beautiful Chippendale card-table is shown. It is
of mahogany, richly carved on the knees, and with a heavy carved
moulding. It is unusual in having five legs, one of which moves out
to support the second half of the top. The feet are ball-and-claw,
and within the lid is lined with cloth, has depressions for counters,
and also four flat panels, one at each corner, where the candlesticks
stood. It belongs to Miss Sarah Frost, Rochester, N. Y., and has been
in her family over 100 years.
Most of Chippendale's furniture presents certain characteristics that
are easily mastered. First may be mentioned the ball-and-claw foot,
and the cabriole leg which he adopted from the Dutch, and which he
used so freely before he introduced the straight leg. Then the backs
of his chairs are quite distinctive, whether the splats run up and
down, or become cross-braces, or are elaborated into very ornamental
ribbon-work. The top bar is generally extended on each end into what,
for a better name, we will call "ears."
Chippendale never used inlay on any of his pieces, preferring to
produce the decoration by carving. In his very ornate carvings we have
mentioned the long-billed bird, the falling-water effect, and the
familiar ribbon-work which is often introduced into backs with such
good effect. There are a number of patterns for carving shown in the
designs in his book, and used by him over and over again, with which we
have become well acquainted. Little carved bands were quite universally
employed to decorate the rims of his card-tables, and in his fine
chairs the front bar of the seat often had a shell or other ornament
carved upon it. The very finest chairs by this maker are seldom found
in America, though furniture was imported freely. In Smith's "History
of New York" for the year 1756, two years after Chippendale
published his work, there is the following statement:
[Illustration: Figure 25. CHIPPENDALE MARBLE-TOPPED TABLE.]
"In the City of New York, through our intercourse with Europeans,
we follow the London fashions, though by the time we adopt them
they become disused in England. Our affluence during the late
French war introduced a degree of luxury in tables, dress, and
furniture with which we were before unacquainted. But still we
are not so gay a people as our neighbours at Boston, and several
Southern colonies."
This is the first time possibly that the descendants of the Pilgrims
have gone on record as a "gay people."
When the seats of Chippendale's pieces are stuffed, it will be noticed
that the material is usually drawn over the rails, and sometimes
adorned with gilt-headed nails set in a pattern or straight. See Figure
19. He says in his catalogue that he considers this the handsomer
fashion; but in some cases, where the seats were covered with set
work or crewel work, they were set in the wooden frame. There are
two such chairs made by Chippendale and given by the fourth Duke of
Marlborough in 1790 to an ancestor of the present owner. The seats of
these ribbon-backed chairs were worked by the famous Sarah, Duchess
of Marlborough, and are still in a fresh and blooming state of
preservation. These arm-chairs are very handsomely carved, and rest
on large ball-and-claw feet. The carving is not confined to the knee
alone, but runs down the leg to the end of the claw. These are owned in
England.
That quantities of this furniture are changing hands all the time is
evident from reading the records of sales which go on at all the large
auction rooms in Europe. It is safe to say that fully half of it comes
to America, and that it is possible to buy here choice specimens of
the works of all the famous cabinet-makers. Even the well-known Battle
Abbey has been despoiled, and while much of the furniture was Flemish
and German, and not of particularly good quality, there were also some
pieces of both Chippendale and Adam Bros., the latter being represented
by several mirrors. Chippendale chairs of undoubted authenticity bring
easily at these sales $200 each, while one of distinctly inferior
quality sold for $335, owing to the authenticity of its history.
At a sale of furniture held within the year at Christie's, in London,
a genuine surprise was furnished when a set of mahogany Chippendale
chairs brought $5,225. A few weeks later two chairs, apparently out of
the same set, appeared at another sale, also at Christie's and about
an hour before the sale they were withdrawn. These chairs, says the
catalogue, were given by a lady to the vicar and church wardens of a
parish church in Lincolnshire. The lady died, and her executors held
that they were lent, not given, and the sale was stopped until the
rightful ownership should be established by law. But there was also
in the catalogue still another chair which was said to belong to the
same set, yet which was of a different wood and more boldly carved.
This chair brought but a little more than $100. The removal of the
two previously mentioned chairs from the sale, and the whole mystery
which surrounds them, has given rise to wild rumours, and all kinds
of reports are circulated which makes one very cautious about buying
at auctions. In fact catalogues at auctions are little to be relied
on, as one will often find pieces heavy with inlay, or of undoubted
American make, boldly marked Chippendale, while Sheraton is made to
shoulder the baldest imitations of his style and design. It must always
be a matter of regret that furniture-makers so rarely signed their
work. If they had realized that individual specimens would bring as
much as fine paintings, they would not have left their work clouded
with an uncertain pedigree.
[Illustration: Figure 26. CHIPPENDALE CHAIR-BACKS AND MIRROR-FRAME]
Chippendale did not make sideboards. He made side or serving-tables but
the sideboard was a later growth, due largely to three cabinet-makers
who succeeded Chippendale,--Shearer, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton, all
of whom, like Chippendale, published catalogues of their designs. The
nearest approach which Chippendale made to a sideboard was a table with
a shallow drawer for linen. He did not make any of those pieces of
furniture with drawers and cupboards which are so often called by his
name.
It may be seen that on Chippendale's title-page he refers to "frames
for marble slabs." These were generally tables,--side or serving tables
we should call them,--and they were elaborately carved on legs and
edges. Nor were they unknown in this country, for inventories as early
as the middle of the eighteenth century refer to sideboard tables with
marble tops, as well as marble-topped parlor tables.
In Figure 25 is shown an unusually elegant marble-topped parlor
table. The profuse carving is in Chippendale's very best style, not
flamboyant, but elegant and graceful. On each of the long sides is a
grotesque mask, and the legs, carved over the knees with shells and
flowers in low relief, end in a ball-and-paw, the hair on the foot
being most delicately carved. The wood is dark, rich mahogany; the
marble top is of brown tint with light veinings. This fine piece is at
Memorial Hall, Philadelphia.
To sum up, then, briefly, Chippendale's peculiarities may be expressed
as follows:
He used the ball-and-claw foot with the cabriole leg: this was
succeeded by the straight leg.
The tops of his chairs are almost invariably prolonged into little
ear-like ornaments.
He never used inlay on his furniture.
He used carving as ornament, generally worked in solid mahogany for his
larger pieces, and in a close-set pine which was gilded for his smaller
and ornamental pieces.
Many of the gold-frame looking-glasses have the glass pane divided by
delicate ornament or pilasters. This was to save expense, as in this
way several small panes of glass could be used instead of one large and
more costly one. The glass made in England was in very thin plates, and
the bevel was ground by hand, so that it followed every twist and turn
in the convolutions of the frame which rested on it.
Strength, beauty, and adaptability to the use for which the piece
was made, were the watchwords for Chippendale's most characteristic
furniture. It is true that during the early years of his work there
was a large demand for everything French, to which he catered, yet
he in time reversed this and caused the attention of the world to be
drawn to England as the centre from which could be obtained the best
designs in furniture. While Chippendale sought for his effects largely
in his use of carving and gilding, although we find little of this
latter work in the pieces seen in America, he also took the greatest
pains to select brilliant and elegant brocades, wrought stuffs, and
hand-worked material for the upholstered parts of his furniture. Nor
did he neglect brass nails as a means of brightening up a piece, though
both Hepplewhite and Sheraton used them more than he did. None of the
furniture which we so fondly ascribed to his name is from the designs
figured in his book, his use of brilliant metal mounts is practically
unknown among us. He himself admired the beautiful Louis XIV ribbon
ornament which he lavished on so many chair backs, and he says "If
I may speak without vanity, they are the best I have ever seen, or
perhaps have ever been made."
Like his fellow-craftsmen, Chippendale made cases for tall clocks, and
some of them are odd and not in the least graceful or beautiful. One
will have for ornament on the extreme top a crowing cock, life size,
and rampant, the base on which he stands being a mass of ugly carving.
Another has what might be called a sunburst, with a star in its midst;
others have allegorical figures. His designs for mantel clocks were
much prettier and in better taste everyway. He used walnut as well as
mahogany for the cases, and sometimes Chinese panels, or panels painted
with nymphs and goddesses, called in "French taste," were inserted.
These decorations served, besides, to ornament the fire-screens which
were popular pieces of furniture. He made designs for chimney-pieces or
"over-mantels." These were filled in with glass. Chippendale says:
"Chimney-pieces require great care in the execution. The
embossments must be very bold, the foliage neatly laid down, and
the whole properly relieved. The top may be gilt, as likewise some
other ornamental parts."
Knowing the sturdy, plain characteristics of Chippendale's furniture
as we see it, this constant reference to gilt and the mass of
over-decoration seems quite out of place. His beds were called
Canopy beds, Chinese beds, Dome beds, Gothic beds with flat testers,
Field beds, Tent beds, Sofa beds with canopies, and the usual high
four-posters.
Many beautiful clothes-presses were made by Chippendale, either chest
like affairs on four legs, or having drawers below and wardrobe above,
some of these latter bearing a strong resemblance to the French pieces
from which they were copied.
Scant mention is made of Chippendale, in contemporary literature, but
he has the distinction accorded to but few of having a large class of
furniture design called by his name, instead of being designated by the
period in which it was made. Mr. Clouston, in his book on "Chippendale
Furniture" says that there were two Chippendales, father and son, and
alludes to the author of the "Director" as "the elder Mr. Chippendale".
The son, like many sons of great men, seems to have lost his identity
in the reputation which has been gradually gathering about his father's
name. He seems to have produced nothing of moment, and the family has
sunk again into the obscurity from which one man had the genius to
raise it.