Design for a commode attributed to Thomas Chippendale

This design is part of a collection of drawings that were acquired by the museum at the same time. While the designs are evidently by different hands, this design for a commode has been attributed to Thomas Chippendale, a fashionable London cabinet-maker. The precision and finish of this design demonstrates that it would have been a presentation piece that the Chippendale firm may have shown to their clients. The bombé shape of the commode and the curved, decorative corners and legs are typical stylistic features of the rococo. The rococo was a style which, following French precedents, became fashionable during the first half of the 18th century and was characterised by curvaceous forms, natural ornamentation and asymmetry. In this design there appears to be no drawers or doors on the front of the commode. Chippendale may have intended for the doors to be positioned within the decorative outlines either side of the central oval shape however they could also have been placed on the sides of the commode if the piece was intended as a purely decorative object.