Library Tables, from Chippendale Drawings, Vol. II
Medium
Black ink, gray wash
Dimensions
sheet: 8 1/4 x 13 1/2 in. (21 x 34.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.40.2(26)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 18th-century English design with *Library Tables, from Chippendale Drawings Vol. II* by Thomas Chippendale, 1759. Chippendale, one of Britain's most celebrated furniture makers, created this drawing during the height of the Georgian era, when elegant interiors reflected social status. Library tables like these were essential for scholarly gentlemen's studies, blending functionality with ornate decoration to furnish spaces for reading and display. Rendered in black ink with gray wash on a modest sheet measuring 8¼ x 13½ inches, the work exemplifies Chippendale's ...
About the Artist
Thomas Chippendale · 1718–1779
Thomas Chippendale, baptized on June 5, 1718, in Otley, Yorkshire, was born into a family steeped in woodworking traditions, the only child of joiner John Chippendale and Mary Drake. His father likely provided his initial hands-on training in cabinetmaking, supplemented by time in the workshop of York joiner Richard Wood, before Chippendale relocated to London around 1749. He married Catherine Red...