The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2023

The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director

1762

Thomas Chippendale

(British, 1718–1779)

publisher

T. Becket & P. A. de Hondt

(British)

Britain

Paper, leather

47.9 x 30.5 x 6 cm (18 7/8 x 12 x 2 3/8 in.)

Gift of Philip A. Uhde in memory of his father, Frederick C. Uhde 2019.80

Edition: third

Location

203A British Painting and Decorative Arts

Fun Fact

Fewer than fifteen copies, including this one, of the French edition of Thomas Chippendale’s famous book of designs, are known to exist.

Description

Through his designs for furniture and architectural elements, Thomas Chippendale became one of the most influential tastemakers of the 1700s. He published three editions of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754, 1755, and 1762), which sold widely in Britain, Ireland, and America. This rare French version of the third edition demonstrates his effort to spread his designs for both naturalistic and neoclassical decoration even wider across Europe.

Provenance
?-2014
Private Collection, London, 2014, sold to (Jeremy Garfield-Davies, London) for Frederick C. Uhde, London
Frederick C. Uhde, London, by descent to his wife, Mrs. Kathy Uhde
?-2019
Mrs. Kathy Uhde, 2019, given to Philip Uhde, FL, USA
2019
Philip A. Uhde, 2019, consigned to (Jeremy Garfield-Davis, London)
2019
(Jeremy Garfield-Davies, London, 2019, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
2020-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Gilbert, Christopher. The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale. London: Studio Vista, 1978. library.clevelandart.org
Femke Speelberg. “Thomas Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director” Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, (May 2018). www.metmuseum.org
Exhibition history

British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.80