Henry Copeland, aka Henry Copland, (c. 1710 – 1754) was an 18th-century

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/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 (s ...

and

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

designer. In partnership with

Mathias Locke 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 ...

during the mid-18th century in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, they produced many furniture designs in the

Rococo Furniture Style Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

. However both men worked for

Thomas Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a 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 Ca ...

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. Copeland appears to have been the first manufacturing cabinetmaker who published designs for furniture. ''A New Book of Ornaments'' appeared in 1746, but it is not clear whether the

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

s with this title formed part of a book, or were issued only in separate plates; a few of the latter are all that are known to exist. Between 1752 and 1769 several collections of designs were produced by Copeland in conjunction with

Matthias Lock 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 ...

; in one of them Copeland is described as of

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

. Some of the original drawings are in the National Art Library at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. Copeland was probably the originator of a peculiar type of

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

back, popular for a few years in the middle of the 18th century, consisting of a series of interlaced circles. Much of his work has been attributed to

, and it is certain that one derived many ideas from the other, but which was the originator and which the copyist is by no means clear. He died in 1754, when, on 8 October, his apprentice was handed over to his widow Elizabeth, who continued his business in his name.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Henry 18th-century births 1754 deaths British furniture designers Year of birth missing 18th-century English people