Chippendale, Thomas jnr

St. Martin's Lane, London; cabinet maker (b.1749-d.1823)

The eldest of his illustrious father’s children, Thomas Chippendale jnr was baptised at St Paul’s, Covent Garden on 23 April 1749. The family lived next door to the workshop in St Martin’s Lane, so young Thomas was familiar from an early age with his father’s cabinet making business. A receipt, signed ‘Thos Chippendale Junr’ and dated June 4 1766, gives the earliest evidence of his working with his father. (J. Goodison The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale Junior p.13, note 4). Thereafter he became increasingly involved in running the firm with Thomas Haig, particularly after his father’s move to Kensington in 1776, and assuming a major share of artistic control. The cabinet maker George Smith spoke of him posthumously as possessing ‘a very great degree of taste, with great ability as a draughtsman and designer’. His earliest finished drawing is, rather surprisingly, an elegant Neo-classical cartouche on a plan of the River Hull executed in 1772 (National Archives, MPD 1/55). In 1779 he published a modest suite of six decorative designs on six plates titled Sketches of Ornament inscribed ‘T.Chippendale, Jun’r inv et ex.’. He had some training as an artist, exhibiting five genre scenes at the Royal Academy between 1784 and 1801 and is reputed to have filled a small book with drawings of fashionable French furniture. The existence of this volume (formerly in the Ralph Bernal collection) described as Sketches by Tho Chippendale at various times was reported by Margaret Jourdain, but its whereabouts are unknown. Other evidence of his artistic ability is provided by an accomplished ‘exploded’ drawing-room scheme in pen, ink and watercolour prepared for Elizabeth Weddell’s London house in Upper Brook St, about 1787 and preserved amongst the Newby Hall papers; and attributed drawings made for Edwin and Edward Lascelles for Harewood House, Yorks (illus. Goodison (2018), figs 60, 292-296). In 2019 four drawings by Thomas jnr and two by his father were discovered in a Canadian collection; one of these was a design drawing for a lantern pedestal, one of six supplied by Chippendale, Haig & Co. to Harewood House in 1774. Two others, for a bookcase and a piano or harpsicord case, have close similarities with other furniture produced by the firm, and collectively they indicate that by the early 1770s Thomas jnr was already directly involved in shaping the firm’s mature neoclassical style. Both Haig and Chippendale were subscribers to pattern books by George Richardson, Robert Adam’s chief draughtsman, and Chippendale was influenced by his designs. After his father’s death in 1779, Chippendale continued the business with Thomas Haig who became senior partner until his retirement in 1796, the firm trading as Haig & Chippendale. Chippendale became a member of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in December 1793, and continued his membership until January 1808. On his death in 1803 Haig bequeathed over £10,000 to various friends and relatives, directing that the legacies were to be paid out of ‘monies to be secured by me on several bonds of Thomas Chippendale, my successor in business.’ Regretfully Chippendale was unable to meet these obligations and was declared bankrupt in 1804. The trustees disposed of Chippendale’s assets, which included ‘many articles of great taste and of the finest workmanship’ at six public auctions devoted to manufactured stock in trade; holdings of timber and veneers; upholstery materials and finally his household goods. The advertisements for these sales, to take place on 25, 26, 27, 31 July and 1, 2 August1804, appeared in the Morning Chronicle, and other newspapers. They yield important information about Chippendale’s business and his private circumstances.

Over the next few years the firm’s finances did not improve, and a further crisis in March 1808 again rendered Chippendale bankrupt. Notices appeared in TheMorningChronicle and many other newspapers with details of the sale of ‘The Valuable Manufactures STOCK of Mr Thomas Chippendale, Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer, No 60, St Martin’s-lane, a Bankrupt …’. The auctions took place on 26, 27, 28 April, 2, 3 May 1808 at St Martin’s Lane. The newspaper notices and insurance records indicate that Chippendale’s own dwelling was a well-furnished, superior establishment. These bankruptcies do not reflect adversely on Chippendale’s status as one of the leading cm of his day; such mishaps were common and he continued to receive lucrative commissions. Another valuable item of evidence from this time is an annotated plan of Chippendale’s premises in St Martin’s Lane attached to his Sun Fire Insurance policy taken out in 1803, which provides an excellent record of the workshop layout. According to poor rate book entries [Westminster Ref. Lib.] he remained at 60 St Martin’s Lane until Michaelmas 1813 when, unable to renew his lease, he moved to 17 Haymarket, then in 1818 he took up residence at 42 Jermyn St which was marked as ‘empty’ in 1821 and 1822. Evidence suggests that he could have joined with cabinet makers France and Banting, with whom Chippendale had had a long relationship. Their workshop was in Pall Mall just around the corner from Chippendale’s in Jermyn Street.

Chippendale’s will, dated 22 December 1822, is addressed from 61 Regent St. (National Archives, Prob. 11/1665, 17101). A letter from Colt Hoare suggests that he was still alive at the beginning of 1823; he probably died in mid-January. He had married Mary Anne Whitehead in July 1793, but she probably died earlier as she does not appear in his will. The whole of his personal property he left to Sarah Wheatley of Regent St. Although less charismatic than his father, the elegant design and quality of his furniture compares favourably with the great tradition of the firm he inherited. The major commissions, where documented furniture survives, are at Burton Constable, Harewood, Paxton and Stourhead.

Elizabeth, 10^th Countess of Pembroke (1737-1831)

Henry Herbert, 10^th Earl of Pembroke, had commissioned furniture from the Chippendale firm between 1759 and 1773 (see Thomas Chippendale snr). Later, his wife Elizabeth employed Haig and Chippendale. She was greatly admired by King George III and was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte. The King granted her the use of Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park in 1787. Two Haig and Chippendale bills for £38.12s. 8d and £110. 8d (1790) indicate that furniture was supplied for Pembroke Lodge.  They included a quantity of seat furniture, a large four post bedstead and soft furnishings. (Wiltshire and Swindon Archives, Chippenham. 2057/A2/5A)

Prince William Henry, 1^st Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1743-1805)

William Frederick, 2^nd Duke of Gloucester (1776-1834)

Prince William Henry, 1^st Duke of Gloucester died on Sunday 25 August 1805 at Gloucester House. Press reports relate that ‘Mr Chippendale, the upholsterer, of St Martin’s Lane’ was required to dress Gloucester House in preparation for the public to come and pay their respects to the deceased. The Chippendale firm had been employed by the 1st Duke in the 1760s, and probably at other times (see Thomas Chippendale snr). This patronage continued as Chippendale junior appeared in Holden’s Directory for 1805 as ‘upholsterer and cabinet-maker to the Duke of Gloucester’, that is, Prince William Frederick, the 2^nd Duke. Press reports also refer to the latter sending orders to Chippendale ‘his upholder’, but further information is lacking.

Elizabeth, 4^th Duchess of Beaufort (c.1713-1799)

Henry 5^th Duke of Beaufort (1744-1803)

The Beaufort household accounts record a payment in May 1781 to ‘Haig Cabinet Maker’, £42.1s.2d, and in June 1788, £47 to ‘Haig & Co Upholsters’, apparently for work done at Henry 5^th Duke of Beaufort’sLondon property in Grosvenor Square.  Elizabeth, 4^th Duchess of Beaufort moved to Stoke Park, Glos after her brother’s death in 1770.The Stoke Household accounts, February 1793, show payment to ‘Chippendale & Haig Cabinet Makers’, £2.12s. 6d. (Badminton Estate Archives, Glos.)

Sir Rowland Winn, 5^th Baronet (1739-1785)

This important commission was initiated in 1766, by which time Chippendale junior had joined the family firm, and it continued until Winn’s sudden death in 1785. Letters (1779-1785) and bills (1780-1785) reveal that the firm was required to supply furnishings for the Yorkshire family mansion, Nostell Priory, as well as for Winn’s London house at No. 11 St James’s Square. By April 1785 much of the commissioned furniture, estimated in its unfinished state to be worth £507, was still not complete. It appears that it was never delivered, and not paid for. (West Yorkshire Archives, WYW 1352 NP 1551/9)

Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood 1790 (1712-95)

Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, 2^nd creation 1796, 1^st Earl of Harewood 1812 (1740-1820)

The firm of Chippendale was deeply involved from 1767 onwards furnishing Harewood House in Yorkshire, as well as furnishing and doing repairs for the Lascelles’s London properties. At Harewood House, the most notable of Chippendale houses, the White Drawing Room and the Gallery were equipped during the 1780s and 90s, and work continued on lesser rooms during the 90s. The last part of this important commission is documented in drawings, cash accounts, letters and a bill of 5 August 1796, totalling £564.15s.2d. The latter lists furniture for Harewood House including pieces still in the Gallery, as well as work, mostly repairs and alterations, for the Lascelles’s house in Hanover Square. Chippendale continued to do jobs both in Yorkshire and for the family’s London properties into the early nineteenth century. Edward Lascelles made payments to him of £42 in June 1799; over £250 in July 1803, which included a charge for funeral expenses and work done for the Hanover Square house, and what appears to be the last recorded payment of £51.14s, in July 1804. In 1785 Lascelles employed Chippendale to oversee work for a property he was purchasing from the Duke of Roxburgh. A drawing attributed to Chippendale bears the watermark of 1806. (West Yorkshire Archives; Archives, Harewood House)

Sir Gilbert Heathcote 3^rd Baronet (c.1723-1785)

Lady Heathcote, (Elizabeth) 2^nd wife of 3^rd Bt (d.1813)

Sir Gilbert Heathcote 4^th Baronet (1773-1851)

The Heathcote family employed the firm of Chippendale for over half a century, from 1768 to 1821. A long bill to Sir Gilbert amounting to £169.6s.5d. was for services provided between November 1777 and May 1778. Two more Heathcote accounts cover periods from December 1780 to December 1781 for £203.11s.4d, and from January 1782 to February 1783 for £49.12s.7d. These describe furniture and upholstery supplied mostly for Browne’s House and Grosvenor Square. Chippendale also supplied some soft furnishing for the Heathcote family pew in Park Street Chapel, near Grosvenor Square in 1781. A few entries in the accounts up to 1804 relating to the family’s country seat Normanton Park, are concerned with repairs and the cleaning of soft furnishing.

Sir Gilbert died in November 1785.  His widow Elizabeth stayed in the house in Grosvenor Square until 1800 when she moved to Upper Brook Street. A Chippendale account addressed to her in December 1799 for £59.13s.10d, was for objects she had ordered to be sold at

Christie’s. An account in total £747.12s.11½d from January to April 1800, and a second from June to November 1804 for £244.14s.3½d were for fitting out her new Brooke Street property, and furnishings for another house in Richmond. A final small bill, July to September, for £5.15s covered cleaning and repairs in London. Elizabeth’s son Gilbert, 4^th baronet, continued to employ the Chippendale firm. Regular payments are entered in his bank account book from January 1815 until as late as February 1821. These amount to over £1,760. There is no indication of what this work entailed or for which property. Some Heathcote furniture has been identified. (Heathcote family documents, Lincolnshire archives, Lincoln. ANC 12/D)

William Constable (1721-1791)

Chippendale provided lavish furnishing for the great drawing room at Burton Constable for William Constable in 1778, being paid over £1,000. Four more sofas were added later. The furniture survives in the house. A bill running from March to July 1783 demonstrates that Chippendale continued to do work for Constable’s London house in Mansfield Street. (East Riding Archives, Beverley. DDCC/140, 153)

William Weddell (1736 - 1792)

Elizabeth Weddell

Expensive furniture had been supplied by the Chippendale firm for William Weddell at Newby Hall since c.1772. Mr and Mrs Weddell were still commissioning work for Newby into the 1780s and continued to use the firm. Chippendale compiled an inventory of Newby in 1792. Elizabeth Weddell instructed Chippendale to help with her London house at 11 Upper Brook St. A drawing of an exploded room (c.1787) shows the furnishing planned for the drawing room. (West Yorkshire Archives, WYL 50/13/D/1/15/8)

Ninian Home (1732-95)

Ninian Home had employed the Chippendale firm since 1774 to furnish Paxton House, Berwick in Scotland. Fourteen copy letters to Haig & Chippendale 1789–91 document an extant suite of drawing room furniture. (National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh. GD267/7/1)

Sir John Griffin Griffin Baronet, succeeded as 4th Baron Howard De Walden in 1784, created Baron Braybrooke in 1788 (1719-1797)

Two minor accounts of 1780, addressed to Sir John Griffin Griffin, for £3.6d, and 1790, addressed to Lord Howard for £2.10s. Both are receipted by John Peareth.

(Essex RO, Chelmsford, D/DBy/A38/9 and A49/6)

Frances Ingram, 9^th Viscountess Irwin (1734-1807)

Isabella, Dowager Marchioness of Hertford (1760-1834)

Evidence for Chippendale’s presence at Temple Newsam, Yorkshire, rests on a few short documents. ‘Chippendale & Hague a/c 17 March 1789’ (noted between the two world wars, but since not re-discovered).  Frances, Lady Irwin’s a/c at Drummond’s Bank notes ‘Thomas Chippindale £408 15s 7d’ 27 December, 1804. Chippendale compiled the household furniture section of the Temple Newsam inventory, 1807 ([West Yorkshire Archives, Acc.1038 (Green Index Book); Warwick RO, Ragley Collection II (ii), Estates of Viscount Irwin (I) Temple Newsam)

John Martin (1724-1794)

A Martin’s Bank ledger entry to ‘Haigh and Co’ in John Martin’s account, 8 May 1786, £23.7s.0d, indicates that he employed the firm to furnish his house, Ham Court, Glos. (Sotheby’s New York, October 21 2004)

Sir Richard Worsley 7^th Baronet (1751-1805)

Sir Richard largely furnished Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight 1776–78 but settlement of the accounts dragged on into the next decade. Records of Sir Richard’s bank account at Hoare’s show that he paid Chippendale & Co sizeable sums from March 1776 until April 1778. These totaled £2638.4s.9d, and by 1779 he owed the partners a further £250, for which he gave a bond, not due for repayment until 1790, but bearing interest at 5%. Worsley paid a second bill in 1781 of over £300 for work for his London house in Stratford Pl.

Barr Convent, York.

A ledger records payments under 5 December 1789 for minor items costing £38 12s 6d.

(Barr Convent MS 7B2)

George Wyndham, 3^rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837)

Three bills, August 1776-June 1777, June 1777-June 1779, September-December 1780 describe furniture and soft furnishing for Egremont’s houses of Petworth, Sussex, Shortgrove, and Egremont House in London. Surviving furniture at Petworth includes three splendid beds with original hangings. (W. Sussex RO, PHA 8050)

Sir Edward Hales, 5^th Baronet (1730-1802)

Sir Edward Hales employed the Chippendale firm from 1776 (possibly earlier) until 1783 when he ran out of funds. Lavish furniture was delivered for the vast mansion Hales Place that he built near Canterbury, with a more modest few pieces for his London house at 7 Albemarle Street. Vouchers and four bills survive: April, 1776–November 1780, £564.18s.7d (including three years interest of £72.18s); February- December 1781, £495.8s.4d; March 1782-August 1784, £38; October 1782-September 1783, £366.4s.7d. Sir Edward was notoriously bad at paying. No furniture has been identified. (Canterbury Cathedral Archives. U85/25; Kentish Register August 1794 p. 314-5; The Southwark Record, September 1950, Vol. xxiv No 277)

Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke (1720–1790)

Entries in the 2^nd Earl of Hardwicke’s bank books record four payments to ‘Chippendale & Co’: £14.4s, 1777; £279.15s, 1779; £320.13s, 1780; £62, 1784. No indication is given as to which of his properties this work was for – Wimpole Hall, Wrest Park or the London town house in New Cavendish Street. (Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies, D/ECd F82 and 83)

Sir Charles Hotham-Thompson 8^th Baronet (1729-1794)

Lady Dorothy Hotham (d.1798)

Sir Charles’s account, Coutts & Co, records payment ‘21 Nov. 1777 to Thos Chippendale £84’.  Several passing references in copies of letters of 1788–94, including one Chippendale autograph letter indicate that both Sir Charles and then his widow Lady Dorothy employed Chippendale to manage their London properties. Chippendale packed up pictures to be sent to the family’s Yorkshire property Dalton Hall. He may have provided other services, including furniture, but nothing more has as yet come to light

(Hull History Centre, DD HO/4/27; /4/23/37; /4/23; /13/11)

Sir James Ibbetson, 2^nd Baronet 1745-95

Evidence that Sir James Ibbetson employed the Chippendale firm comes from an undated document headed ‘An account of Money expended in furniture for the new House at Denton’ in which Chippendale received £551. An elegant suite of a pair of pier tables and a semi-circular commode have been identified, also a set of chairs, probably supplied c.1778-80. (Christies, London, 22 May 2014, lot 1148)  

Thomas de Grey, later 2^nd Lord Walsingham 1781 (1748 – 1818)

Bank accounts at Goslings record that Thomas de Grey paid Chippendale £10, August 1778;

£200, February 1779, probably for work done for his new London house in Harley Street. An inventory, signed by Chippendale was made for Harley St, 1781. Regular sums paid to the Chippendale firm, totaling over £1000, are entered in de Grey’s bank accounts up to January 1786, probably relating to the Harley Street house. Two accounts and a letter, 1786, refer to furniture and soft furnishing for de Grey’s (by then Lord Walsingham) property Merton Hall, Norfolk, April-June 1786, £58.18s.9d; and to a Kilburn, London house, June-July 1786 £26.6s.10d. Bank records show continual payments to Chippendale  between 1787-1803 for just over £2000. After Lord Walsingham’s death, January 1818, Chippendale made inventories at Merton. Just one commode has been identified. (Norfolk RO, WLS L/6, LVIII/11/21, L/9, L/14, L/21; Barclay’s Group Archives, Wythenshaw, Manchester)

Patrick Home (1728-1808)

A surviving letter, 29 July 1779, from Chippendale & Co, shows that Patrick Home chose to employ the firm to furnish some rooms at Wedderburn Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland. Two lengthy bills, February 1786-May 1787, detail work equipping Home’s London house in Gower Street. Furniture has been identified. (National Archives of Scotland, GD267)

Paul Methuen (1723-1795)

Three entries in Paul Methuen’s Day Book note payments to the Chippendale firm for furniture for Corsham Court, Wiltshire:1 November 1779, £18.16s; 25 January 1785, £13.18s.6d; 31 May 1787, £4.12s. No pieces have been identified. (Wiltshire and Swindon Archives, 1742/8113)

Richard Colt Hoare, later Sir Richard, 2^nd Baronet 1787 (1758-1838)

The first indication that Richard Colt Hoare employed the Chippendale firm is a long account, Sept 1779-Nov 1780, total £783.1s.7d, to furnish his London house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. After his marriage to the Hon. Hester Lyttelton in 1783, they moved to 10 Royal Terrace, in the Adelphi. A bank payment, Oct 1784, £555 to Haig & Chippendale was probably for work to that house. Seventeen bills from July 1795 to April 1820, with regular bank payments, although not complete, amount to over £6000, and describe Chippendale’s extensive work for Stourhead, Wilts. These with associated material document an impressive array of progressive furniture. (Wiltshire and Swindon Archives, WSA 383; C.Hoare & Co HMF/11)

Owen Putland Meyrick (1752-1825)

A bill, 3 August 1780, and receipt, 2 July 1781 reveal that Thomas Chippendale was paid £20, probably for furniture. This was included in cargo transported from Carnarvon to Anglesey on the sloop, Peggy and Jonny. The destination was Owen Putland Meyrick’s house, Bodorgan. (Bangor University, Bodorgan 1452, 1464)

Sir John Nelthorpe, 6th Baronet (1745–1799)

One bill to Sir John Nelthorpe from Haig & Chippendale, June 1780, £19.7s.7d, receipted 1781 by J.Peareth, remains the only evidence that he was a patron of the firm. It lists furniture for Nelthorpe’s Baysgarth House near Barton-on-Humber, Lincs. (Lincoln RO, NEL 9/1/68)

Lady Amabel Yorke, Viscountess Polwarth from 1772, Baroness Lucas from 1797 and Countess de Grey from 1816 (1750 - 1833)

A letter from Chippendale advising on the rent of her house survives, dated 28 February 1782. (Beds. Archive Service, A16/09/061 L30/11/126)

Henry Hugh Hoare (1762-1841)

Hoare paid ‘Mr Haig’ £960, March 1785, probably for work or furnishings for his house in, St John Street London, and £30 for valuing goods. ‘Haig & Co Uph’r’ receivd payment, £587.4s.4d, January 1790 for work for Hoare’s new London house in St James’s Square. Nothing from this commission has been identified. (C.Hoare & Co, Customer Ledgers, Henry Hugh Hoare)

 Thomas Robinson, 2^nd Lord Grantham (1738 - 1786)

Mary Jemima Robinson, 2^nd Lady Grantham (c.1757 – 1830)

A statement of Grantham receipts and payments in 1786 contains ‘Chippendale, Cabinet maker £24.18s.3d.’ Letters from Lady Grantham recount the commission, c.1791, for dining room furniture for Newby Park, Yorks. The furniture is now at Newby Hall, Yorks.

(West Yorkshire Archive service, Leeds, N H 2797A; Bedford and Luton Archive Service, L30; Plymouth & W Devon RO,1259)

Sir Richard Hoare, (‘of Barn Elms’), created 1^st Baronet 1786 (1735-1787)

Lady Hoare, Frances Anne (d.1800) 

In 1786 Sir Richard employed Thomas Haig to act as his agent for the purchase of No 11 St James’s Square, in London. A document, 10 April 1786, shows payment to ‘Tho^s Haig ... To the purchase Money of the House in St James’s Square 8000 - -’ with an added interest payment of £59.4s. Two more payments were made to Haig in June 1786,  £600, September £800, with a further  payment, £1,756.1s. in March 1787, no doubt for work done for Sir Richard’s new house. Sir Richard died in the autumn of 1787. His executors paid ‘Haig & Co’ £323.17s.8d for his funeral. An undated note, probably 1787, headed ‘Valuation of the House & Furniture in St James’s Square’ listed ‘Haig, Cabinet work Glass &c 3007 – 10 – 6’.

Sir Richard’s widow, Frances Anne paid ‘Haig & Chippendale £64 in 1792. On her death, Chippendale made two inventories of ‘the Household furniture & other Effects of the late Lady Hoare taken at her House No 45 Charles Street Berkeley Square’, September 19, and

October 2 1800. Her executors recorded an undated payment to Chippendale, £151.13s.3d, which probably included compiling the inventories. (C.Hoare & Co, Partnership Ledgers 1783-1806; Customer Ledgers, 26, 29, 42; HFM/10/7, 10/12)

C. Hoare & Co

Ledgers at Hoare’s Bank record almost yearly payments to Haig and Chippendale from June 1787 to September 1796. The sums are modest ranging from £1.5s to £71.10s, and probably reflect ongoing maintenance work. (C.Hoare & Co, London)

Charles Hoare (1767-1844)

Haig & Chippendale; Thomas Chippendale 1789-1820

Charles Hoare first employed the Chippendale firm in 1789. An entry in his bank records furniture from ‘Henry’s Room’ valued by ‘Haig’ at £71.10s. Between June 1792 and October 1820 Charles Hoare paid the firm over £1900 first for work done at a property in Roehampton near London; then for a rented house in Dawlish, Devon; and later for Charles’s newly built Luscombe Castle, Devon. Some furniture survives. (C. Hoare & Co, HFM/18/1)

Sir John Frederick 5^th Baronet (1749-1825)

One long account from Haig and Chippendale, January 1790 to January 1796, for the total of £723.10s, records furniture and soft furnishings supplied by the firm, mostly for Sir John’s house, Burwood Park, Surrey. But some work was for Frederick’s London house in Savile Row. The commission stops in 1792, but Frederick failed to clear his bill until December 1796. (Surrey History Centre, Woking, 183/34/10c)

George, Prince of Wales (George IV 1820) (1762-1830)

The Prince of Wales does not appear on any Chippendale account. It was on his behalf that his factotum, Louis Weltje, employed Chippendale. An abstracted account of the expenditure by Weltje in the building of the Marine Pavilion, Brighton, 7 May 1794, notes craftsmen employed between April and July 1787. Chippendale’s payment was £22.10s. (Royal Archives, GEO/MAIN/33513-4)

John Bruce (1745-1826)

An account, ‘January &c’ 1795, totaling £174.5s.10d, reveals that the Chippendale firm was chosen to help furnish John Bruce’s new London house at No. 13 College Street, Westminster. Three receipts, 1796, one signed by John Peareth, two by Thomas Haig, add up to £372.5s.10d. Nothing from this commission has been identified. (Scottish RO, GD 152/216/2/8)

William Ralph Cartwright (1771-1847)

The account book kept by William Cartwright’s steward, Robert Weston, records, December 1804, ‘…paid Mr Chipendale for a Bed 41.9.6’. This was for his house Aynhoe Park, Northants. (Northants RO  3502 ML1319)

Peter Richard Hoare (1772-1849)

Peter Richard Hoare paid Chippendale £93, April 1813, and £29.5s.6d July 1814 for storing his belongings at the firm’s premises in St Martin’s Lane. (C. Hoare & Co, Customer Ledgers 20, 31)

Dr (later Sir) John Richardson (1787-1865)

An elm arm chair, owned by the Spilsby District Council, bears a plaque informing us that it was ‘… MADE FROM THE TIMBER FROM H.M.S ROYAL GEORGE, LOST WITH ALL HANDS AT SPITHEAD, 29TH AUG. 1782. SIR JOHN RICHARDSON WAS GIVEN SOME TIMBER AND CAUSED THIS CHAIR TO BE MADE THEREFROM’.

Probably made c.1817, it displays many Chippendale characteristics seen on other commemorative Chippendale chairs.

Sir John Lister Kaye, created 1st Baronet in 1812 (2^nd creation) (1772- 1827)

In March 1817 Sir John ordered from Mrs Coade ‘by Mr Chippendale, 2 statues of lamps Vestal and Sybil’ to be bronzed £65 19s. These would have been for his Yorkshire house Denby Grange. (National Archives, C 111/106)

John George Children (1777-1852)

In 1820 John Children commissioned an elaborate commemorative armchair for The Prince Regent from the wood of the famous elm tree from the battlefield of Waterloo, now at Windsor Castle. He commissioned another chair from Chippendale for himself, which in 1837 on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, he presented to the Duke of Wellington. A third arm chair, made of oak but similar in design and now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, may have been the prototype that helped Chippendale perfect his design for the Royal chair.

Lord John Townshend (1757-1833)

A letter, July 1819, from Lord Townshend to Chippendale, informs him that he has ordered his bank to pay him £1,200. This was probably for work done at Balls Park, Herts.

Edward Vernon Utterson (c.1776-1856)

An arm chair, c.1820, bears a plaque informing us that it was made with a portion of wood from the famous elm tree from the battlefield of Waterloo, given to Edward Utterson by John Children. Decorative details on the chair are typical of those found on other Waterloo Elm commemorative Chippendale chairs.

John Henry Manners, 5^th Duke of Rutland (1778 – 1857)

An arm chair, c.1821, bears a plaque informing us that it was made with a portion of wood from the famous elm tree from the battlefield of Waterloo, given to the Duke and Duchess of Rutland by John George Children. It is close in design, construction and decorative detail to the two Waterloo Elm chairs commissioned by Children from Chippendale.

Judith Goodison

Sources: DEFM; de Bellaigue, ‘The Waterloo Elm’, Furniture History (1978); Low, ‘Newby Hall: Two Late Eighteenth-Century Inventories’, Furniture History (1986); Gilbert, ‘Hallmarks of Craftsmen: The Furnishing of Denton Hall, Yorkshire’, Country Life (9 April 1987), pp. 148-52; Wood, ‘Lord Walsingham and the Younger Chippendale’, Antique Collector (February 1987), pp. 38-44; Leeds Arts Calendar, Nos. 99 & 100 (1987); Buckingham, Hales Place, St Stephen’s Hackington, Canterbury (1988); Goodison, ‘Thomas Chippendale the Younger at Stourhead’, Furniture History (2005); Goodison, ‘A Puzzle Solved: Furniture at Newby Hall, Yorkshire’, Burlington Magazine (January 2009); Dodd & Wood, ‘The “Weeping Women” Commode and Other Orphaned Furniture at Stourhead by Chippendales Senior and Junior’, Furniture History (2011); Goodison, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale Junior (2018); Jones, The Paxton Style (2018); Bowett, ‘Three Drawings by Thomas Chippendale junior’, Burlington Magazine (August 2020), pp. 672-77.