In reviewing yesterday’s entry, I realize some of the information imparted, in an effort to simplify, is really occlusive. My error, an egregious one, was in contextually linking George III and Thomas Chippendale. The impression one would get thereby is that ‘Chippendale’ and ‘George III’ are synonymous descriptive signifiers for the decorative arts in the last half of the 18th century.
They are not, actually, and sorry to give anyone the wrong impression. Thomas Chippendale, a Yorkshireman who made good as a cabinetmaker in London, came to prominence in the reign of George II. Chippendale’s designs, or rather, the designs then fashionable that he employed himself and cribbed from others, then collected and incorporated into the pattern book that has come down to us as The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director is very much a compendium of rococo design motifs. This is where it gets tricky, though, as Chippendale’s name has become associated with motifs he rarely used, including the redoubtable ball and claw foot. Further, the period of his activity spans two great epochs in the decorative arts- the rococo of the middle of the century, and the restrained neoclassicism of the last quarter of the century. Consequently, using Chippendale’s name to denote a particular time and style in the decorative arts is hardly precise.
As before, identification with Britain’s reigning monarch functions as a better method. ‘George II period’ works when looking at pieces in rococo style, as his long reign, from 1727 to 1760, encompasses the end of the baroque, the length of rococo, and the beginnings of neo-classicism. As it is, England never embraced the rococo in the same way the French, Germans, or even the Russian imperial court did. Using a typical English case piece as an example, it is difficult many times to tell the carcase of a George II chest from completed decades later. While the carcase may be simple, often the mounts are over the top, with rocaille decoration that screams rococo. I can’t definitively explain the why of this. Given the huge quantities of alcohol consumed by the moneyed 18th century Englishman, it would be hard to argue for some sort of native sobriety that carried over into the decorative arts. As well, with every young man of fashion going on a year(s)-long Grand Tour of Europe as an essential part of his education, it certainly cannot be a function of an ignorance of continental European taste. Perhaps my readers may wish to weigh in on this question.
Images of rococo cabinet hardware from mid-18th century pieces are below. Click on the link for the main images of the ‘sober’ case pieces they go with.
Gilt-brass handle and backplate, with ‘C’ scroll and rocaille motif to the handle
See detail image, or see full image
Gilt brass handle with backplate of ‘Raffle leaf’ design, the backplate and handle of linked ‘C’ scrolls
See detail image, or see full image
Gilt brass handle and escutcheon- a mixture of the rococo and the neo-classical. The rococo phoenix on the handle appears about to consume the foliate backplates on either side. Both are beneath a neo-classical escutcheon in the shape of an urn, with a bell-flower swag
See detail image, or see full image