Thomas Chippendale

“ His Chinese backs were distinctly geometrical, and from them he would seem to have derived some of the inspiration for the frets of the glazed book-cases and cabinets which were among his most agreeable work. The most attractive feature of Chippendale’s most artistic chairs—those which, originally derived from Louis Quinze models, were deprived of their rococo extravagances—is the back, which, speaking generally, is the most elegant and pleasing thing that has ever been done in furniture. ”

“ He was one of the most successful imitators of Chippendale, although his work was in many respects lighter. He helped, indeed, to build the bridge between the massive and often florid style of Chippendale and the more boudoir-like forms of Hepplewhite. Although many of his designs were poor and extravagant, his best work was very good indeed. His chairs are sometimes mistaken for those of Chippendale, to which, however, they are much inferior. He greatly affected the Chinese and Gothic tastes of the second half of the 18th century. ”

“ Tom came home, not much the worse for wear, bringing word that Haskell had fallen in with some kinsmen in Virginia with whom he would spend a long-needed vacation. The Chippendales were not wholly given over to poverty by the war, for Aaron Chippendale, with a shrewdness that was an offset to his simplicity, had invested in the commercial future of the village. He had built and owned more than half the stores on the only business street in Halcyondale, and these made a very handsome return on the investment; for whatever else happens, business and trade must go on. ”

“ Possibly Chippendale’s somewhat ornate designs may have appeared frivolous to the austere Sheraton, who was an ardent Baptist and wrote a good deal in furtherance of his religious views.
A great deal of wood was used in genuine Chippendale chairs, and an infallible sign of a copy is when the carving seems cramped and flat owing to the shallowness of the frame out of which it has been scooped. Much so-called Chippendale furniture has not even a semblance of being the work of that cabinetmaker. ”

“ The posts above the cabriole legs are small and plain, and there is no headboard. The wood is mahogany. This bedstead is now owned by the Concord Antiquarian Society. Although Chippendale’s designs do not show a bedstead with claw-and-ball feet, he probably did make such bedsteads, and this may be called Chippendale, as it belongs to that period. ”

“ CHIPPENDALE, WILLIAM HENRY (1801–1888) , actor, the son of an actor at the Haymarket and elsewhere, was born in Somers Town, London, on 14 Aug. 1801, and received some education at the high school, Edinburgh, in which city his father made his first appearance on 25 July 1814 as Polonius. Chippendale was placed with James Ballantyne to learn printing, and asserted, in error or oblivion, that he 'read' some of the Waverley manuscripts. He was subsequently apprenticed to John Ballantyne the auctioneer. ”

“ It is usually made of oak, walnut or mahogany, with brass handles and escutcheons. The more elegant examples of the Chippendale period have cabriole legs, claw-and-ball feet and carved knees, and are sometimes sculptured with the favourite shell motive beneath the centre drawer. ”

“ Like his fellow-craftsmen, Chippendale made cases for tall clocks, and some of them are odd and not in the least graceful or beautiful. One will have for ornament on the extreme top a crowing cock, life size, and rampant, the base on which he stands being a mass of ugly carving. ”

“ If the parent was dignified and conservative, the offspring was dainty and progressive; the Jacobean style maintained its dignity and{48} decorous nicety to the end, but the Chippendale, which started in with a taking air of modest and light gracefulness, in strong and pleasing contrast to the solidity of its predecessor, rapidly assumed a most elaborate and ornate manner, and finally sank into a wild, riotous, and well-nigh sensuous profusion of decorative expression, which being too heavy for it to sustain, bore it down to its end. ”

“ People behave better now, and in our profession, carried on as it is in the public eye, behavior is everything. At the Haymarket there were simply no bounds to what was said in the greenroom. One night I remember gathering up my skirts (we were, I think, playing "The Rivals" at the time) , making a curtsey, as Mr. Chippendale, one of the best actors in old comedy I ever knew, had taught me, and sweeping out of the room with the famous line from another Sheridan play: "Ladies and gentlemen, I leave my character behind me!" ”

“ The illustration given of the Chippendale table in Chinese style (p. 213) , is a beautiful and perfect piece of a type rarely met with. It was made by Chippendale for the great-grandmother of the present owner. A similar table was in the possession of the Princess Josephine. In chairs, the back was sometimes of fret-cut work, as was also the design of the legs, with fretwork in the angles, which betray his fondness for the Chinese models. The Gothic style influenced Chippendale only to a slight degree. ”

“ Or are you going into Chippendale, and have your legs curved, and turned fine, and fluted? I don’t hold to having your legs made too spindly. There is a loss of strength. Still, fashion is for it. I have some of the very finest Chippendale ever seen in stock; I can give you legs that are in the first style, and yet are not spindly. Or—if I may make so bold as to ask—are you going to be Rococo?’
Mr. Rigsby stared. ”

“ The transition from Chippendale to Hepplewhite was not sudden, as the last style of Chippendale was simpler and had more of the classic feeling in it. Hepplewhite says, in the preface to his book: "To unite elegance and utility, and blend the useful with the agreeable, has ever been considered a difficult, but an honorable task." He sometimes failed and sometimes succeeded. His knowledge of construction enabled him to make his chairs with shield, oval, and heart-shaped backs. ”

“ Despising fish, they subsist on game and roots. Numbering about two hundred souls, they now exist in two wandering bands in the Babine and Upper Skeena River agency, Hoquelget division, British Columbia.—Ed.
[258] The Montagnais are a branch of the great Athapascan (or Déné) stock of northern Indians. By some authorities they are identified with the Chippewyan; others consider them the western branch of the Chippewyan tribe—De Smet uses the term in the first sense. The Chippewyan still rove in their ancient habitat on Athabasca lake and river. ”

“ Chippendale. Hour-glass, books, globe, palette, and brushes, grouped above the escutcheon. Motto, Hinc labor et virtus. Of Philadelphia.
15. Alsop. Richard Alsop.
Armorial. Belongs to no particular style, although the ornamentation is of Chippendale tendency. Beneath the shield, at either side, stands a cupid holding out a bunch of arrows: the drawing of these figures is not above criticism: they seem to have one arm each, and but one wing also. A Connecticut poet. Born, 1761; died, 1815. One of the famous “Hartford Wits.” ”

“ Joseph Grimsby, occupant of the third floor, backed out and rejoined the astonished girl.
“A lovely bit of Chippendale, is it not, Miss Ford? It is Miss Ford, isn’t it? Yes, our old colored janitor told me you were expected to-day. I and my chum live up-stairs. But please don’t worry about the glass. That is quite easily replaced. I must apologize for my intrusion, but when I saw what a beauty it was, and heard you say how you loved it, I had to help. There is nothing like Chippendale, and it’s getting rarer every day.” ”

“ But wood burns when it is kindled: and here at the corner of the Heart and Hand, the Whig headquarters, was a spark like to light the fire—Boston, the bruiser, and a dozen of his fellows; men who were, one and all, the idols of the yokels who stood about them and stared. Pybus, who had brought them hither, was not to be seen; he was weaving his spells in the Heart and Hand. But Mr. Williams, White-Hat Williams, the richest man in Chippinge, who, voteless, had only lived of late to see this day—he was here at the head of his clothmen, and as fierce as the poorest. ”

“ Fortunately for you, and for me, tradition is a fine thing. Nothing comes out of the blue, except perhaps thunderbolts and they are not really very useful things, certainly no good to any one trying to create. Chippendale, Sheraton, or Heppelwhite were all men of strong individuality. You could never mistake a Sheraton chair for a Chippendale, or a Chippendale for a Heppelwhite; and yet they were all craftsmen who worked on strictly traditional lines. The same may be said of Turgenev, Guy de Maupassant, Joseph Conrad and Tchekoff. ”

“ Tom, in his turn, was delighted to learn that all were now Christians, and that the father, sad and recent as his death was, had not died without a hope.
"God has led us all to himself, Ray," he said, with deep emotion; "and what a change even in our worldly surroundings it makes to be followers of Jesus. George is superintendent of a mill; Nettie is a bookkeeper; you are nearly through with an academic course on your way to college; the two older girls are in Christian homes of their own, and I am first officer of as fine a ship as sails the ocean. ”

“ For certain, too, many of the people did not belong to Chippinge. With the townsfolk White knew he could deal. He did not believe that there was a Chippinge man who, eye to eye with him, would cast a stone. But here were yokels from Calne and Bowood, who knew not Sir Robert; with Bristol lambs and men as dangerous, and not a few Radicals from a distance, rabid with zeal and overflowing with promises. Made up of such elements the crowd hooted from time to time, and there was a threat in the sound that filled White with misgivings. ”

“ No one felt regret for the just punishment of the Chippewa; but the fate of the unhappy lovers created a deep sympathy in the hearts of all—the more so from the surpassing personal beauty of both. Two graves were dug—one inside and the other on the outside of the stockade. In the first was placed a rude coffin, lined with a buffalo skin, which Captain Hughes had substituted for that of the grizzly bear, were placed the bodies of Wawandah and the Sunflower. ”

“ Daily a man and horse awaited the mail-coach at Chippenham that he might have the latest news; and, seeing a footman hurrying towards him from the house, he supposed that the mail was in. But when the man, after crossing the long wooden bridge which spanned the pool, approached with no diminution of speed, he remembered that it was too early for the post; and hating to be disturbed in his solitary reveries, he awaited the servant impatiently.
“What it is?” he asked.
“If you please, Sir Robert, Lady Lansdowne’s carriage is at the door.” ”

“ Yet, obeying the little alarm-bell that rings in every chipmunk's brain, he dashed desperately for the shelter of the stone wall. It was well for him that he did. As he crossed the wide stretch of turf like a tawny streak, there was a whirl of wing-beats, the flash of a gray-brown body balanced by a narrow black-balled tail, and the shadow of death fell upon him even as he neared his refuge. With a frightened squeal, Chippy put every atom of the force which pulsed through his little vibrant body into one last spring. ”

“ The next minute the light craft darted off down the river as swiftly as four oars could pull it.
I had been given a place in the bow, while Captain Tucker sat with Captain Allen in the stern of the boat. What passed between them on our way to the ship I never knew, but when we were in her cabin her skipper turned to me, and putting his hand in mine, said:
“I have had a double pleasure tonight, Master Dunn. Instead of plucking one patriot out of the hands of the enemy, I have taken two. I knew your father. I believe he has in you a son worthy of him. You are welcome to a place among us.” ”

“ Again the yowl sounded nearer, and as though the animal was floating on the tide down by the jail. Then it came the third time directly under our window-sill.
[107] My companion had already drawn the coil of rope from his bosom, and was making one end fast to a piece of the iron grating. Placing this across the narrow aperture, he threw out the cord, and turned to me, saying:
“All is ready, Master Dunn, and you shall go first. Tell Captain Allen, however, that I’m right behind you.”
“Nay, sir,” I remonstrated, “you should go first, as the plan is yours and—” but I did not finish. ”

“ John C. Bedelle, The Bathtub King! For a delicious week Skippy sailed into the future on the magic carpet of his imagination. He dreamed through the long dull hours of recitations; he dreamed when huddled in sweater he watched the scurrying of the baseball candidates; he dreamed over the prunes at breakfast and the prune whip at night, and in his soft and delicious bed he lay awake for hours planning out the disposal of his future wealth. ”

“ Once, indeed, the great Chippewa chief, Haw-waw-many-squaw, having thrown the town into consternation by placards of himself scalping his enemies and smoking their tobacco, makes a triumphal entry into the main street at full gallop, and pitching his tent before the court-house, walks into the parsonage—war plumes, moccasins, and all—gives us complimentary seats, and eats the better half of our dinner. ”

“ Chippenham is a little town in a wooded hollow, with a grey spire and stone bridge over the Avon. Then one reaches a stony country. The houses are no longer of brick, but all of stone. The Box tunnel is a result of the hills. The villas near Bath, of grey stone, cling to the sides of the heights from whose quarries they were taken. In the valley are Hampton church and ferry.
“Bath, an entirely stone city, has a consequent greyness of its own. The streets have a desolate stateliness, and are still the abode of old maids and card-playing dowagers as when described by Miss Austen ”