The Gentleman's and Cabinet-Maker's Director
Medium
furniture
Classification
furniture
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1921-6-450-6
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
**The Gentleman's and Cabinet-M's Director** (1755) by Thomas Chippendale1718–1779) stands as a pivotal artifact in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's furniture collection. Published during the height of Georgian England, this work—purchased for the museum by the Advisory Council— Chippendale's mastery as a leading cabinet-maker from London. While research continues, it embodies the era's fusion of fine art and functional design, when opulent furnishings symbolized social status among the elite. Chippendale's innovative style blended Rococo curves, Gothic Revival elements, and chinoiserie ...