A Fine Set of Twelve Dining Chairs in the Manner of Thomas Chippendale

Object Description

A Fine Set of Twelve Dining Chairs in the Manner of Thomas Chippendale By Hindley and Wilkinson

Consisting of 10 Side Chairs and 2 Carvers, constructed in a richly coloured and well carved mahogany; rising from front acanthus and foliate carved cabriole legs terminating in scrolled feet, with sabre legs to the rear; the side rails richly carved with foliates, having upholstered seats; the complex intertwined and pierced ribband band backs housed within shaped uprights, with triple domed toprails; the two armchairs having swept dished arms, adorned with acanthus carving. Several chairs are stamped ‘Hindley and Wilkinson’ and one ‘Wilkinson’.
Circa 1890

Object Literature

This very design is an exact copy of the original model conceived by Thomas Chippendale in his The Gentleman & Cabinetmaker’s Director of 1754, on Plate XV. Chippendale has given high praise to his design noting these “Ribband Back chairs… which, if I may speak without vanity, are the best I have ever seen (or perhaps have ever been made).”

Joshua Wilkinson & Co. were established in London in 1766, in Moorfields London, and then are recorded in Ludgate Hill; Charles Hindley, of Berners Street since 1844, and exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 merged with Wilkinson in 1872, subsequently operating from Welbeck Street, until their absorption by Marshall & Snellgrove in c 1918.

Literature:
Chippendale, Thomas. The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director. London: Printed for the Author, 1754 & 1762 [reprint 1966]; pl. XV.
White, Elizabeth. Pictorial Dictionary of British 18th Century Furniture Design: The Printed Sources. Woodbridge: Antique Collector’s Club, 1990; p 63.

Object Details