Dressing Chest

Thomas Chippendale was born in Otley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England in June 1718. He became a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs, titled The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director, upon which success he became renowned. The designs are regarded as reflecting the current British fashion for furniture of that period and are today reproduced globally. He was buried 16 November 1779

The gentleman and cabinet-maker’s director : being a large collection of … designs of household furniture in the Gothic, Chinese and modern taste … : to which is prefixed, a short explanation of the five orders of architecture and rules of perspective, with proper directions for executing the most difficult pieces, the mouldings being exhibited at large, and the dimensions of each design specified.