C H I P P E N DA L E DIRECTOR
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prospectus
Thomas Chippendale’s
O R I G I N A L D R AW I N G S for
THE DIRECTOR
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with elucidations by MORRISON HECKSCHER and FEMKE SPEELBERG
•• Prospectus
THORNWILLOW Ars Omnia Tuetur
T
HOMAS CHIPPENDALE FIRST ANNOUNCED HIS PLAN TO PUBLISH THE GENTLEMAN
A N D C A B I N E T M A K E R’ S D I R E C T O R IN MARCH, 1753. HE SOUGHT FOUR HUNDRED SUBSCRIBERS. THE BOOK APPEARED IN MAY 1754 AND INCLUDED a list of the original 308 patrons. The sumptuous folio, with 160 engraved plates, is the most famous of all furniture pattern books. Today, Thornwillow Press in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art proudly announces its plan to publish for the first time Chippendale’s original pen-and-ink drawings for his 1754 volume. Of the 147 surviving drawings, 142 are at the Metropolitan. The edition is planned in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the artist’s birth, and will include a list of subscribers, together with introductory essays by Morrison Heckscher, former Chairman of the American Wing, and Femke Speelberg, Associate Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints.
The drawings are the precise images from which the engravings were made, identical in every detail, though, of course, printed in reverse. Yet, in another way, the two could hardly be less alike. Whereas the engravings are technically perfect, stylized and anonymous (one is hard-pressed to distinguish the work of various engravers), the drawings are vibrant and expressive: how precise the penciled geometry, how elegant the inked line, how effective the washed shadows, how unlike the rote work of a draftsman preparing somebody else’s sketches for the engraver! The drawings offer a unique window into Chippendale’s design process and the evolution of The Director. Until now, they have only been seen by those fortunate enough to be granted access to the original drawings in the Metropolitan Museum Collection. They are, in short, essential to the canon of craft and design. As established collectors already know, Thornwillow is noted for meticulously produced handmade books that celebrate extraordinary ideas. This
edition is no exception. The introductory essays will be printed letterpress on archival paper and the drawings will be the highest quality facsimile reproductions. Copies are available bound in both half-leather and half-cloth, with paste paper boards and letterpress endpapers featuring a pattern of Chippendale’s own design. This edition has been made possibile by the support of twenty-five patrons who have underwritten much of the production. As in Chippendale’s first edition, this project can only be realized with the support of subscribers committed to the arts. We now invite friends, scholars, and collectors to reserve their copies and participate in this historic tercentenary edition. For more information please contact us (845) 569-8883 or lip@thornwillow.com