George Hepplewhite

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(d London, ?June 1786). English furniture designer. Though a household name in the context of late 18th-century furniture, he remains a shadowy figure. Lowndes's London Directory of 1786 records his business at Redcross Street, Cripplegate, London, and after his death the administration was granted to his widow, Alice, on 27 June 1786. The Public Ledger of 10 October 1786 announced an auction of his stock-in-trade and household furniture. In 1788 his widow published the Cabinet-maker and Upholsterer's Guide. Its aim was 'to follow the latest and most prevailing fashion' and to adhere 'to such articles only as are of general use'. The intended public included both the cabinetmaker or upholsterer and the client (the 'mechanic and gentleman', as Alice Hepplewhite put it). There followed a slightly revised edition in 1789 and an 'improved' one in 1794, with an extra plate and revised chair designs. Six engravings bearing Hepplewhite's name appeared in Thomas Shearer's Cabinet-makers' London Book of Prices (1788).

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George Hepplewhite (died 1786) was an English furniture designer whose name has become synonymous with grace and elegance. His work was instrumental in disseminating the neoclassic style of Robert Adam.

Little is known of George Hepplewhite's life. He was an apprentice with the firm of Gillow in Lancaster and then moved to London, where by 1760 he was established in Redcross Street, St. Giles', Cripplegate. He died in 1786, and his widow, Alice, carried on the business as A. Hepplewhite and Company. It seems likely that the firm existed by supplying designs for cabinetmakers rather than by manufacturing furniture, for not a single piece of furniture is authenticated by a bill or other document as having come from his workshop.

Two years after Hepplewhite's death his widow published The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, a folio volume of 300 designs that was the largest book of its sort to appear since Thomas Chippendale's Director (1754). The immediate success of Hepplewhite's work resulted in a second edition in 1789, and a third edition in 1794.

The Adam spirit in furniture may be said to have found its chief fulfillment in Hepplewhite designs. His oval-, wheel-, and shield-back chairs, bookcases with vase-shaped door glazing and urn-capped pediments, beds with delicately carved or painted posts and cornices, and bowfront commodes are among the most beautiful in the history of furniture. Hepplewhite was much influenced by Chippendale, especially in his designs for sideboard-tables with accompanying urns and pedestals and in the simpler types of domestic furniture such as chests of drawers, bookcases, and wardrobes. Hepplewhite never used human or animal figures in his designs, or sphinxes or military trophies, as did Adam and Thomas Sheraton; Hepplewhite's decorative motifs consisted chiefly of stylized foliage, urns, and vases and occasionally of ornaments in the Louis XVI manner, such as ribbon entwining a fluted chair leg. Several designs for chairs and stools with curved legs in the Louis XV manner reflect the revival of interest in the rococo from about 1770 to 1790.

Sheraton, whose Drawing Book (1791) seems to have been produced in emulation of Hepplewhite's work, refers in his preface to the "outmoded character" of some of his rival's designs, particularly for chairs. The third edition of Hepplewhite's book included some 20 designs for chairs in the new square-back manner introduced by Sheraton, but they lack the exquisite grace of Hepplewhite's earlier oval-and shield-back designs.

Further Reading

There is a selection in facsimile, Hepplewhite Furniture Designs (1947), from the third edition (1794) of The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, with an introduction by Ralph Edwards. The only comprehensive account of Hepplewhite and a description of his designs, including a comparison with those of Sheraton, are in Clifford Musgrave, Adam and Hepplewhite and Other Neo-Classical Furniture (1966). See also Ralph Edwards and Margaret Jourdain, Georgian Cabinet-Makers (1944; new rev. ed. 1955); Peter Ward-Jackson, English Furniture Designs of the Eighteenth Century (1958); Ralph Fastnedge, English Furniture Styles: 1500-1830 (1962); and Ralph Edwards and L. G. G. Ramsey, eds., The Connoisseur Period Guides, Late Georgian 1760-1810 (1968).

Additional Sources

Hinckley, F. Lewis., Hepplewhite, Sheraton & Regency furniture, New York: Washington Mews Book, 1987.

Hepplewhite, George (d. 1786). Cabinet-maker and furniture designer, Hepplewhite linked the ornate style of Chippendale and the severer lines of Sheraton. He was apprenticed to Robert Gillow of Lancaster, then opened a business in London about 1760. His reputation rests with The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide published two years after his death.

A Hepplewhite chair, with distinctive shield-shaped back.

This article is about the cabinet maker. For the professional footballer, see George Hepplewhite (footballer).

George Hepplewhite (1727? - June 21, 1786) was a cabinet and chair maker. He was one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Chippendale. There are no pieces of furniture made by Hepplewhite or his firm known to exist but he gave his name to a distinctive style of light, elegant furniture that was fashionable between about 1775 and 1800 and reproductions of his designs continued through the following centuries. One characteristic that is seen in many of his designs, is a shield-shaped chair back, where an expansive shield appeared in place of a narrower splat design.

Contents 1 Life and work 2 Notes 3 References 4 See also 5 External links

Life and work

Very little is known about Hepplewhite himself. Some established sources list no birth information; however a "George Hepplewhite" was born in 1727 ^[1] in Ryton Parish,^[1] County Durham, England. He served his apprenticeship in Lancaster and then moved to London, where he opened a shop. After he died in 1786, the business was continued by his widow, Alice. In 1788 she published a book with about 300 of his designs, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterers Guide, with two further editions published in 1789 and 1790.

Many are quick to praise the designer George Hepplewhite, but there are inconsistencies to his fame. The published guide books, that claim George Hepplewhite as their author, were released after his death by his widow. It was not until years after his death that his designs started to receive recognition. Little is known about the man George Hepplewhite and only his death certificate seems to offer any hard evidence of his existence. The question rises if “George Hepplewhite” was a real person or just a name for Alice Hepplewhite to publish under?

With contemporaries such as Thomas Chippendale producing pieces in a variety of styles, Hepplewhite’s famed style is more easily identifiable. Hepplewhite produced designs that were slender, more curvilinear in shape and well balanced. There are some characteristics that hint at a Hepplewhite design, such as shorter more curved chair arms, straight legs, shield-shape chair backs, all without carving. The design would receive ornamentation from paint and inlays used on the piece.

The book influenced cabinet makers and furniture companies for several generations. The work of these generations influenced in turn copies of the original designs and variants of them through the 19th and 20th centuries.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "America's First Lady and the Roddams of North West Durham" (family history for Hillary Rodham Clinton), Geoff Nicholson, webpage: Unet-HRoddom.

References

• Geoff Nicholson, "America's First Lady and the Roddams of North West Durham" (family history for Hillary Rodham Clinton), webpage: Unet-HRoddom.

See also

• Luke Vincent Lockwood

External links

• Project Gutenberg article on Heppelwhite from Furnishing The Home of Good Taste by Lucy Abbot Throop

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