POSSIBLY BY THOMAS CHIPPENDALE, CIRCA 1770-1775

Harewood House, Yorkshire, was by far the largest, most prestigious and valuable commission that Thomas Chippendale (d. 1779), furniture designer and master craftsman, would undertake. In its execution he excelled, producing some of the finest furniture of his career, and fully embracing the new neo-classical vision with his employment of 'antique' ornament. His work at Harewood House took eleven years to complete and costing in excess of £10,000. A border of beading above a stiff leaf border can be seen on Chippendale's furniture in the 'neo-classical' phase, and includes: a room-border from the Alcove Bedchamber at Harewood House, and a japanned blue and white looking-glass, 1767, at Mersham (C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, Leeds, 1978, vol. II, p. 153, fig. 280; p. 283, fig. 515). Interestingly, this decorative motif also appears on the frontispiece by Chippendale Junior to his Sketches of Ornament, published in 1779 (J. Goodison, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale Junior, London, 2017, p. 35, fig. 12).