George Hepplewhite (1727? – 21 June 1786) was a

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 (so ...

. He is regarded as having been one of the "big three"

English furniture makers English furniture has developed largely in line with styles in the rest of northern Europe, but has been interpreted in a distinctive fashion. There were significant regional differences in style, for example between the North Country and the Wes ...

of the 18th century, along with

Thomas Sheraton Thomas Sheraton (1751 – 22 October 1806) 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 charac ...

and

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 ...

. There are no pieces of furniture made by Hepplewhite or his firm known to exist but he gave his name to a distinctive style of light, elegant furniture that was fashionable between about 1775 and 1800 and reproductions of his designs continued through the following centuries. One characteristic that is seen in many of his designs is a shield-shaped chair back, where an expansive shield appeared in place of a narrower splat design.

Life and work

Very little is known about Hepplewhite himself. Some established sources list no birth information; however a "George Hepplewhite" was born in 1727 in Ryton, County Durham, England. According to some sources, he served his apprenticeship with Gillows in Lancaster, but the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

is sceptical about this. He was also a member of the London Society of CabinetMakers. He based himself in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, where he opened a shop. After he died in 1786, the business was continued by his widow, Alice. In 1788 she published a book with about 300 of his designs, The '' Cabinet Maker and Upholsterers Guide'', with two further editions published in 1789 and 1790. It was not until years after his death that his designs started to receive recognition. While some have attempted to attribute the furniture design to his wife Alice, there is no evidence that she was the original creative force behind the work beyond her publication of the reference guide after his death. With contemporaries such as Thomas Chippendale producing pieces in a variety of styles, Hepplewhite's famed style is more easily identifiable. Hepplewhite produced designs that were slender, more curvilinear in shape and well balanced. There are some characteristics that hint at a Hepplewhite design, such as shorter more curved chair arms, straight legs, shield-shape chair backs, all without carving. The design would receive ornamentation from paint and inlays used on the piece. The book influenced cabinet makers 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) ...

companies for several generations. The work of these generations influenced in turn copies of the original designs and variants of them through the 19th and 20th centuries.

Gallery

File:Hepplewhite's Guide 1787.jpg, Page from Hepplewhite's style guide, published in 1787 File:Hepplewhite Chairs.jpg, Mahogany chairs in the Hepplewhite style, made circa 1790 File:Hepplewhite-style Mahogany Dining Chair.jpg, Mahogany dining chair in the Hepplewhite style, made circa 1790 File:Hepplewhite-style Mahogany Elbow Chair.jpg, Mahogany elbow chair in the Hepplewhite style, made circa 1790 File:Hepplewhite_shield-shaped_dining_chair_in_'country_house'_condition,_May_2014.jpg, Hepplewhite shield-shaped dining chair in 'country house' condition, (Hampshire, UK, 2014)

Notes

External links

University of Wisconsin Digitised version of The Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer's Guide

by Lucy Abbot Throop {{DEFAULTSORT:Hepplewhite, George English furniture designers British furniture makers 1786 deaths 1727 births People from Ryton, Tyne and Wear 18th-century English people English non-fiction writers English male non-fiction writers

Life and work

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links