A Mahogany China Case, c. 1755


Mahogany China Case, c.1755, after a design by Thomas Chippendale. Ronald Phillips Ltd.

One of the highlights of this year’s catalogue from London dealer Ronald Phillips Ltd is this mid-eighteenth century mahogany China Case, whose design corresponds closely to plate CVI of the first edition of Chippendale’s Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754). The China Case was acquired from a private collection in the USA, where it has been since its sale by M. Harris & Sons in the 1930s.

Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754), plate CVI, Design for a China Case.

3Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754), plate CVII, sections through pediment, cornice, surbase and base mouldings.

Like many Director-style pieces which have no secure original provenance, it cannot be attributed to Chippendale’s workshop on the basis of the design alone, but its maker undoubtedly used plate CVI as his model. In addition, the blind frets in the cornice and waist correspond exactly to those shown in plate CVII, as do the mouldings themselves, thereby strengthening the possibility that this might be a Chippendale workshop piece . Sadly, the original pediment has been lost, so the present one is a replacement, based on that shown in plate LXXIII.

Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754), plate LXXIII, Design for a Library Bookcase.