Chippendale, Thomas Plate 51. “Writing Table”

Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779). Plate 51.  “Writing Table.” 

From Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, Being a Large Collection  of the Most Elegant and Useful Designs of Household Furniture in the Gothic, Chinese and Modern Taste.  London: Thomas Chippendale, 1754.  Approx. 17 1/2 x 11 (paper size).  Engraving.  Uncolored as originally issued.  Very good condition.  

A lovely print from one of the finest, and definitely most famous, furniture makers of the Eighteenth Century, Thomas Chippendale (1718- 1779).  Established in the Mid Eighteenth Century, Chippendale’s furniture firm has become synonymous with the British Rococo. These particular prints are from the first edition of his celebrated pattern book, “The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director.”  Published in 1754, it served as a trade catalogue and guide to clients.  Containing 161 plates, it beautifully illustrates the different forms of English Rococo furniture; the French, the Gothic, and the Chinese.  So successful was the publication that a nearly identical second edition was issued in 1755, and a third enlarged and revised edition appeared in 1762.  This delicate and slightly whimsical style of furniture served as the transition from the heavier and regal, Baroque, to the restrained and elegant, Neo Classicism.