Design, 1744, Matthias Lock V&A Museum no. 27811:6
Matthias Lock was an English 18th century furniture designer and cabinet-maker. The dates of his birth and death are unknown; but he was a disciple of Thomas Chippendale, and subsequently of the Adams, and was possibly in partnership with Henry Copeland.
During the greater part of his life he belonged to that flamboyant school which derived its inspiration from Louis XV models; but when he fell under the influence of Robert Adam he absorbed his manner so completely that it is often difficult to distinguish between them, just as it is sometimes easy to confound Locks work with the weaker efforts of Chippendale. Thus from being extravagantly rococo he progressed to a simple ordered classicism. His published designs are not equal to his original drawings, many of which are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, while the pieces themselves are often bolder and more solid than is suggested by the authors representations of them. He was a clever craftsman and holds a distinct place among the minor furniture designers of the second half of the 18th century.
Among his works, some of which were issued in conjunction with Copeland, are: A New Drawing Book of Ornaments; A New Book of Ornaments (1768); A New Book of Pier Frames, Ovals, Girandoles, Tables, etc. (1769); and A New Book of Foliage (1769).
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco, also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, and trompe-l'œil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama. It is often described as the final expression of the Baroque movement.
Thomas Chippendale was an English cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director—the most important collection of furniture designs published in England to that point which created a mass market for furniture—upon which success he became renowned. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum, "so influential were his designs, in Britain and throughout Europe and America, that 'Chippendale' became a shorthand description for any furniture similar to his Director designs".
Thomas Sheraton was a furniture designer, one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite. Sheraton gave his name to a style of furniture characterized by a feminine refinement of late Georgian styles and became the most powerful source of inspiration behind the furniture of the late 18th century.
Giovanni Battista Cipriani was an Italian painter and engraver, who lived in England from 1755. He is also called Giuseppe Cipriani by some authors. Much of his work consisted of designs for prints, many of which were engraved by his friend Francesco Bartolozzi.
Thomas Hope was a Dutch-British interior and Regency designer, traveler, author, philosopher, art collector, and partner in the banking firm Hope & Co. He is best known as an early promoter of Greek Revival architecture, opening his house as a museum and his novel Anastasius, a work which many experts considered a rival to the writings of Lord Byron.
Thomas Johnson (1714–1778) was an English wood carver and furniture maker.
A commode is any of many pieces of furniture. The Oxford English Dictionary has multiple meanings of "commode". The first relevant definition reads: "A piece of furniture with drawers and shelves; in the bedroom, a sort of elaborate chest of drawers ; in the drawing room, a large kind of chiffonier." The drawing room is itself a term for a formal reception room, and a chiffonier is, in this sense, a small sideboard dating from the early 19th century.
Chinoiserie is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, literature, theatre, and music. The aesthetic of chinoiserie has been expressed in different ways depending on the region. It is related to the broader current of Orientalism, which studied Far East cultures from a historical, philological, anthropological, philosophical, and religious point of view. First appearing in the 17th century, this trend was popularized in the 18th century due to the rise in trade with China and the rest of East Asia.
Chairs are known to have existed since Ancient Egypt and have been widespread in the Western world from the Greeks and Romans onwards. They were in common use in China from the twelfth century, and were used by the Aztecs.
The Adam style is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (1732–1794) were the most widely known.
William Halfpenny was an English architect and builder in the first half of the 18th century, and prolific author of builder's pattern books. In some of his publications he described himself as "architect and carpenter", and his books concentrate on the practical information a builder would need, as well as addressing "gentleman draughtsmen" designing their own houses. They were a popular alternative to the very expensive architectural treatises by British authors such as Colen Campbell and James Gibbs, or foreigners such as Serlio or Palladio. He also wrote under the name of Michael Hoare.
Robert Manwaring was an English 18th-century furniture designer and cabinet maker. The dates of his birth and death are unknown.
Placido Columbani was an Italian architectural designer who worked chiefly in England in the latter part of the 18th century. He belonged to the school of the Adams and Pergolesi, and like them frequently designed the enrichments of furniture. He was a prolific producer of chimney-pieces, which are often mistaken for Adam work, of moulded friezes, and painted plaques for cabinets and the like.
Henry Copeland, aka Henry Copland, was an 18th-century English cabinetmaker and furniture designer. In partnership with Mathias Locke during the mid-18th century in London, they produced many furniture designs in the Rococo Furniture Style. However both men worked for Thomas Chippendale the elder and many of their designs appear, without acknowledgement, in his book of designs, The Gentleman and Cabinet Makers Director, published two years later. However a study of the original drawings suggests that they may have actively collaborated with Chippendale on his book.
Rocaille was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. It was a reaction against the heaviness and formality of the Louis XIV style. It began in about 1710, reached its peak in the 1730s, and came to an end in the late 1750s, replaced by Neoclassicism. It was the beginning of the French Baroque movement in furniture and design, and also marked the beginning of the Rococo movement, which spread to Italy, Bavaria and Austria by the mid-18th century.
Sheraton is a late 18th-century Neoclassical English furniture style, in vogue c. 1785–1820, that was coined by 19th-century collectors and dealers to credit furniture designer Thomas Sheraton, whose books, The Cabinet Dictionary (1803) of engraved designs and the Cabinet Maker's & Upholsterer's Drawing Book (1791) of furniture patterns exemplify this style.
The Queen Anne style of furniture design developed before, during, and after the time of Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 to 1714.
Mary and Matthew Darly were English printsellers and caricaturists during the 1770s. Mary Darly was a printseller, caricaturist, artist, engraver, writer, and teacher. She wrote, illustrated, and published the first book on caricature drawing, A Book of Caricaturas [sic], aimed at "young gentlemen and ladies." Mary was the wife of Matthew Darly, also called Matthias, a London printseller, furniture designer, and engraver. Mary was evidently the second wife of Matthew; his first was named Elizabeth Harold.
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood, coated steel, or synthetic materials. Commercial grade cabinets usually have a melamine-particleboard substrate and are covered in a high-pressure decorative laminate, commonly referred to as Wilsonart or Formica.
Trade catalogs, originating in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries primarily in Europe, are print catalogs which advertise products and ideas in words, illustrations, or both. They included decor, ironwork, furniture, and kitchenware. If a trade catalog included illustrations, the items were commonly engraved or hand-drawn and replicated.
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