George Hepplewhite (1727? – 21 June 1786) was a
cabinetmaker. He is regarded as having been one of the "big three"
English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with
Thomas Sheraton and
Thomas Chippendale. 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
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, 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 History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'' is sceptical about this. He was a member of the London Society of Cabinet Makers.
He based himself in London, 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 Upholsterer's Guide'', with two further editions 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 objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
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)
See also
*
List of furniture designers
Notes
External links
University of Wisconsin Digitised version of The Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer's Guideby
Lucy Abbot Throop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hepplewhite, George
English furniture designers
British furniture makers
1786 deaths
1720s births
People from Ryton, Tyne and Wear
18th-century English people
English non-fiction writers
English male non-fiction writers