1/4 The Extraordinary Thomas Chippendale - Carved with Love

[Music] in the Golden Age of British Furniture the 18th century one man defined the age in Wood he stood for luxury Elegance the finest Furniture ever to come from these aisles his name Thomas Chippendale he was the best he was a master at his craft you can't beat that in this film we'll see how an enigmatic Yorkshire Joiner escaped his humble roots to conquer fashionable London he won favor by bestowing Grandeur and taste upon a new moneyed class will reveal the techniques he mastered you know when we stand in front of this furniture it's a work of art kept Alive by Craftsman today design inspiration is what it was by a man who is truly incredible and wonderful through his groundbreaking designs he became famous at home in Britain and across the Atlantic we will know in 300 years time in a thousand years time we will know chippendale's name why cuz he's already done 250 years and we'll reveal how Chippendale was betrayed by the very men he'd worked so hard to please ending his days in penury but most of all we'll celebrate his finest Creations the defining masterpieces of the Georgian [Music] [Music] age Thomas chippendale's early life has been pieced together from a few tantalizing fragments of information we know he was born here in the small Yorkshire Village of otley in [Music] 1718 and even though opportunities were limited we know Thomas went into his father's trade carpentry Yorkshire was not exactly in the mainstream of furniture making at this time or the high point of high fashion in chip andel's own Mia if you like uh there was the vernacular tradition of furniture made from Oak beautifully made often uh but fairly sturdy standard things for which design barely changed from one generation to the next just one telling object survives from the chip andale family firm this Oak chest it's simple robust and it's lasted centuries but it's basic and the joints are [Music] clumsy a talented and ambitious young man chip Andale set his sights on greater things and there was only one place to go London the young Chippendale would have been Amazed by this strange bustling Metropolis in the mid 18th century London was at the heart of a Britain On The Rise a rapidly expanding Empire across the world meant power it meant an influx of luxurious exotic Goods into ports Across the Nation and it meant wealth for merchants lawyers and shippers this moneyed set would come to be known as the middle classes a group Chippendale would have had his eye on [Music] the mid and late 18th century see this great surge in buying things I mean in the material culture and that's because whole hu new groups of people have more money to spend on uh pleasure and money to spend on their surroundings and also a far greater sense of their status they wanted to buy all the fineries they could afford from Grand portraits to Fine China and there was one thing at the top of their wish list the way you impressed people with your taste was how you dressed and how you furnished your home and of course you furnished your home with a collection of things of Fine Arts from abroad and Furniture so Furniture was the emblem it was the it was the showpiece of your [Music] chip Andale would have noticed that tastes were getting more exotic Oak was now seen as old-fashioned and there was a new wood on the Block mahogany from the Empire's West Indies mahogany as a raw material had the ability to track transform an entire industry it's hard but it's not too hard it's durable it's strong but also for a Carver It's a Wonderful wood to use because of its capacity to to take fine detail to carve crisply and to to produce a really clean finish chip Andale truly mastered this wood manipulating it to produce spectacular furniture this is one of his earliest chairs it's been cared to the most elegant effect so exceptional was his skill he came to be known as the high priest of [Music] mahogany but chip Andale still needed to make a name for himself in 1754 he he did something completely revolutionary establishing him at once as the greatest designer of his day it was bold but it wasn't a piece of [Music] furniture it was the first ever Furniture [Music] catalog the gentleman and cabinet makers director contains over 160 of chippendale's own design right on the title page it tells you everything you need to know about what it is and who it's for a large collection of the most elegant and useful designs of household [Music] Furniture this catalog contains everything the fashion conscious Shopper of the 18th century could possibly want for their home from chairs to breakfast tables cabinets and fire [Music] screens in an attempt to attract the most customers he included the three major Fashions circulating [Music] town the modern style fresh out of Paris today we'd call it Coco an extravagant confection of curls Swirls and fanciful carving the Chinese inspired by an 18th century passion for the Orient adorned with pagodas and make believe Chinese figures and Gothic a medieval fantasy that revived patents from the Middle Ages Chippendale was all about creating what the customer wanted in whatever style they [Music] chose he's confident that he can convince all noblemen gentlemen or others who will honor me with their commands which means everyone who is going to actually commission him that every design in this book can be improved both as to beauty and enrichment in the execution of it by their most obedient servant Thomas Chippendale so what he's saying is really quite key in that he's saying not all the designs are perfect all you have to do is ask me to make it and I will guarantee that they will look better there is a figure of mercury at the end of the preface and Mercury is the messenger god and he's also the god of Commerce printed on his Banner is collegate O spat collected in order to distribute which is a perfect thing because that's exactly what this book is it's a collection of designs brought together to better distribute it no Craftsman uh had ever produced uh something that looked so fine that is so detailed and also quite doctrinaire in a way laying down rules orders perspective um for furniture this was something that Architects did but not Furniture people who they were Tradesmen they were craft people and this is actually very very important Landmark both because it gives everybody else in the trade uh a model so that they can use it so it's going to create a Style chippendale's Style became so popular inferior Craftsmen started using the director to make copies James LX is an expert at spotting the fakes from The Fortunes well the first thing that strikes you of course is the color we find this CH Andale chair is a wonderfully deep rich color which is what was most admired in the 18th Cent Cy the other on the other hand is much lighter and you know perhaps not quite so so admired at the time this has far far better quality mahogany much denser much much much richer much more much more expensive but the carving on this is superb it's absolutely as Crisp And as sharp as you can make it the splendid use of the materials in in The Cutting of the of the fonding here and the leaves um The Splendid curvature of the back it's s seamless in its wonderful tactile quality you know the highlights on some of the edges of the of the carving make it really sparkle this on the other hand is terribly flat very little depth to it really at all here all the extra Scrolls for some reason and then if you look at the sides here this Reed and Beal uh design down here really is just piled on for no particular reason he's piled on sort of bit of shinery here for example too quite unnecessary um this one just seems so much more confident as well um when you put the two side by side and you look at the curvature of these of the backs too look at the way that this has the most marvelously elegant uh curvature to it just one Splendid swoop whereas on this one we're going down to here then suddenly it goes rather straight and then it the curve continues something obviously went wrong um so all in all the two might have a lot of similarities but put the two side by side and you really begin to see something quite different emerging to meet demand for his Exquisite Furniture Thomas setup shop in the fashionable St Martin's [Music] Lane St Martin's Lane was a great area of furniture makers you had all the big names there vile Cobb Chippendale lyel so that the environment is utterly creative you're surrounded by it's not just furniture makers you've got goldsmiths there are artist s the sculptors people what we would Now call the creative Industries but the 18th century equivalent of them all Milling around St Martin's Lane must have been quite a quite a hot [Music] spot he lived and worked in numbers 60 61 and [Music] 62 the Workshop is itself consisted on the front of the of St Martin's Lane uh his own dwelling house

Channel: Art Documentaries

Views: 107,110

Keywords: Carpentry, woodcarving, British Woodwork, Thomas Chippendale

Id: 5Bhu7HjIGAk

Length: 15min 4sec (904 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 26 2013