Thomas Chippendale Statue: The Yorkshire statue honouring Britain’s most famous furniture designer
Britain’s most famous furniture designer and cabinet maker was born in the Wharfedale town of Otley in 1718 and baptised at Otley All Saints Parish Church.
His birthplace is believed to have been a cottage which stood on the corner of Boroughgate and Wesley Street, a site now occupied by a private art gallery.
He was the only child of John Chippendale, who owned a saw mill and wood-turning business, and received an elementary education at the Old Grammar School on Manor Square.
A statue of him by Barnsley-born sculptor Graham Ibbeson was unveiled in front of the reconstructed building in 1987.
His father trained him in woodwork and they are believed to have carried out commissions at what was then the Harewood Castle Estate, where the owner Henry Lascelles is said to have recognised the younger Chippendale’s genius and arranged an apprenticeship with Richard Wood, the leading furniture maker in York.
While still in his 20s he moved to London and in 1753 was able to establish a workshop in St. Martin’s Lane, between today’s Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden.
The following year he published the now-famous book The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Directory featuring his own designs.
Copies now sell for as much as £25,000 at auction. Potential customers could browse through the book, select a design and order the furniture they wanted.
Although based in London, he frequently returned to Yorkshire to provide furniture for mansions like Nostell Priory, Newby Hall and Temple Newsam.
Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, asked Thomas to furnish Harewood House during its construction between 1759 and 1771, the largest commission of Chippendale’s career.
In 1776 he handed the business over to his son, Thomas junior, and retired to live in Hoxton, East London. He died of tuberculosis in November 1779.