|
· popular from late 1700's to about 1820. · usually includes Classical details such as shields, urns. · inlaid details are common. · legs are usually square shaped. · called "Federal" style in United States. · American examples are often decorated with carved eagles, stars.  "Shield-back" chairs are from this style. George D. Hepplewhite, 1786, English cabinetmaker and furniture designer. His style is characterized by light, curvilinear forms, painted or inlaid decoration, and distinctive details such as slender tapering legs (plain, fluted, or reeded) and the spade foot. Decorative motifs include designs introduced by Robert Adam and his brother James, ribbons, rosettes, prince of Wales feathers, ears of wheat, and the lyre. He is noted for distinctive chair backs in shield, oval, interlaced hearts, ladder, and wheel forms and for the use of much satinwood and painted beechwood as well as mahogany. His small pieces, e.g., inlaid work tables, fire screens, knife boxes, and tea caddies, are especially prized by collectors. Hepplewhite's firm was continued by his widow, who published in 1788 his Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide (repr. 1969). |
The Hepplewhite style is a neoclassical style of furniture designed by the English cabinetmaker George Hepplewhite (fl. 1760-86). He learned the art of furniture making in Lancaster, subsequently setting up a shop for his trade in Saint Giles, Cripplegate, London, about 1760. He is regarded, along with his contemporary Thomas Sheraton, as one of the outstanding English designers of the 18th century. No furniture made by Hepplewhite has ever been identified; his fame came about with the posthumous publication of his book of more than 300 designs, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer's Guide (1788; rev. ed. 1789, 1794). His work is characterized by a classic simplicity and delicacy. Hepplewhite chairs are noted for their comparatively small size; the shield or heart shape of their backs; their slender legs, often tapering to a spade foot; and their painted or inlaid ornamentation. 
Hepplewhite furniture at Barnes & Noble  Print This Page |