Design for a commode
About the work
This design is part of a collection of drawings that were acquired by the museum with designs by Matthias Lock. While the designs are evidently by different hands, this design for a commode has been attributed to Thomas Chippendale, a fashionable London cabinet-maker.
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While elegantly and precisely executed, the presence of loose pencil sketch marks on this presentation design indicate that someone returned to this drawing in order to experiment with alterations. This design is laid out in a similar fashion to some of the plates within Chippendale’s A Gentleman and Cabinet Maker’s Director (his popular pattern book which he published in three editions). Chippendale often included the shape outline of the top of commodes, tables and desks within his plates for the Director in a similar way to this design in order to show how certain items of furniture should be constructed. The designer has also combined two different styles of commode in order to offer the client the choice of design.
Victoria and Albert Museum
