Original Drawings for The Director
Thomas Chippendale first announced his plan to publish The Gentlemen and Cabinetmaker's Director in March 1753. He sought four hundred subscribers. The book appeared in May 1754 and included a list of the original 308 patrons. The sumptuous folio, with 160 engraved plates, is the most famous of all furniture pattern books.
Half-Cloth and Full Leather editions are out of print.
Thornwillow Press in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art proudly published for the first time Chippendale’s original pen-and-ink drawings for his 1754 volume. Of the 147 surviving drawings, 142 are at the Metropolitan.
The edition is planned in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the artist’s birth, and will include a list of subscribers, together with introductory essays by Morrison Heckscher, former Chairman of the American Wing; renowned English furniture maker David Linley, 2nd Earl of Snowdon; and Femke Speelberg, Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints.
The drawings offer a unique window into Chippendale’s design process and the evolution of The Director. Until now, they have only been seen by those fortunate enough to be granted access to the original drawings in the Metropolitan Museum Collection. They are, in short, essential to the canon of craft and design.
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This Item:
Original Drawings for The Director
Editions starting at $2,500.00
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Millennial Cities: Print Portfolio
$3,500.00
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Berlin Metropolis: Portfolio of Prints
$2,500.00
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Total price
Author | Thomas Chippendale, Morrison Heckscher, Femke Speelberg, David Snowdon |
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Artist | Thomas Chippendale |
Dimensions | 18 1/4" x 12 1/2" x 1" |
Edition | The edition is limited to one hundred and fifty copies: Twenty-five Patron copies bound in full leather. Fifty copies bound in half-leather. Seventy-five copies bound in cloth and paste paper boards. |
Price View | Price Range |