Thomas Chippendale

1. Thomas Chippendale 1718-1778

2. Thomas Chippendale was a furniture designer born in Otley • He was famous because he was the first person to do a catalogue of designs • He used the most expensive materials that were available at the time

3. He was employed by the richest people of the time to make their homes fashionable and stylish

4. Chippendale was trained as a joiner and as a cabinet maker • A joiner is someone who joins pieces of wood together to make furniture • A cabinet maker makes furniture more detailed with decoration and style

5. Chippendale often supplied all of the furnishings for a room including chairs, beds, wall coverings and mirrors • He also made unusual objects such as bird cages and monkey stands

6. Chinese

7. Modern or Rococo

8. Gothic

9. Neo Classical • Chippendale was also inspired by the style of the Greek and Roman times • This piece of furniture shows classical Goddesses called Diana and Minerva • Diana was the Goddess of Hunting • Minerva was the Goddess of Knowledge

10. If you had just bought a house in the time of Chippendale you would ask him to completely decorate the inside • Chippendale would give you his catalogue and you could choose all of the bits of furniture and decoration that you would like • Chippendale would then create a whole set of furniture just for you to show off in your house

11. Edwin Lascelles who owned Harewood House paid Chippendale £10,000 to furnish his house • At this time a Housemaid earned £6.00 per year • A Housemaid would have had to work for a year to be able to pay for 1 chair • It would take a Housemaid 1,667 years to earn enough money to furnish Harewood House

12. After you have chosen your designs Chippendale would draw up a bill and tell you how much it would cost for each bit • If you didn’t have enough money you might need to take things away from your order

13. Inventor and Entrepreneur • Chippendale invented a new way of packing chairs so that they could be delivered to the great houses safely. • Chairs were placed in special crates and screwed to batons so that they would not move about in transit • One way of finding out if a chair is made by Chippendale is to see if the holes from screws are still underneath

14. Money Problems • The people who ordered furniture from Chippendale often took a long time to pay him • Chippendale often found it difficult to pay his workmen when he hadn’t been paid for the furniture that he had already delivered • Samuel Popplewell in a letter to Edwin Lascelles said ‘I do not wonder at Chippendale’s stopping work if he had so much owing as he said he had.’