Thomas Chippendale the Younger

This portrait wax bust represents Thomas Chippendale the Younger and is made by an unknown artist in England in the early 19th century.

The father of Thomas Chippendale, Thomas Chippendale the Elder (1718-1779) ran a large and successful cabinet-making business, based from 1754 at St. Martin's Lane, London. His exceptional fame rests on the pattern book, "The Gentleman and the Cabinet-maker's Director', which he first published in 1754. It featured design of a variety of household furnishings in the Chinese, Gothic and Rococo taste. The "Director" became the most influential English Rococo pattern book, and an entire style of furniture became known as 'Chippendale'. The third edition in 1762 also included new designs in the Neo-classical taste. The family business at St. Martin's lane operated until 1813 when his son, Thomas Chippendale (the Younger), was evicted for bankruptcy.