Chippendale chair
The chair of English Rococo in mahogany, after the designs in Thomas Chippendale’s pattern book.
In 1754 Thomas Chippendale published The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, the first major pattern book devoted entirely to furniture. It mixed Rococo, Gothic and Chinese motifs.
The book was used by joiners throughout Britain, North America and northern Europe, Sweden included. That is why chairs in this style are called Chippendale even when Chippendale’s workshop did not make them.
Materials: Mahogany; seat upholstered in fabric or leather
Manufacture: Carved and jointed by chairmakers in London and the provinces, after plates in the pattern book.
The top rail curved like a cupid’s bow.
The pierced, carved back splat.
Cabriole legs ending in a claw gripping a ball.