The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director

1762

The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1762. Thomas Chippendale (British, 1718–1779), T. Becket & P. A. de Hondt (British). Paper, leather; 47.9 x 30.5 x 6 cm (18 7/8 x 12 x 2 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Philip A. Uhde in memory of his father, Frederick C. Uhde 2019.80 Through his designs for furniture and architectural elements, Thomas Chippendale became one of the most influential tastemakers of the 1700s. He published three editions of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754, 1755, and 1762), which sold widely in Britain, Ireland, and America. This rare French version of the third edition demonstrates his effort to spread his designs for both naturalistic and neoclassical decoration even wider across Europe. Fewer than fifteen copies, including this one, of the French edition of Thomas Chippendale’s famous book of designs, are known to exist.