George Hepplewhite (1727? - June 21, 1786) was a cabinet and
chairA chair is a raised surface used to sit on, commonly for use by one person. Chairs often have the seat raised above floor level, supported by four legs. A chair without a back or arm rests is a stool, or when raised up, a bar stool or high chair . A chair with arms is an armchair and with...
maker. He was one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with
Thomas SheratonThomas Sheraton was a furniture designer, one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite....
and
Thomas ChippendaleThomas Chippendale was a London cabinet-maker and furniture designer in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles...
. 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
splatA splat is the vertical central element of a chair back. Typically this element of a chair is of exposed wood design. The splat is an important element of furniture identification, since its design has a multitude of variations incorporating the themes of different furniture periods...
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 ParishRyton is a semi-rural small town near the western border of Tyne and Wear, England. Once an independent town in County Durham it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in 1974. It has a population of 15,742.- History...
, County Durham, England. He served his apprenticeship in Lancaster and then moved to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, 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 Upholsterers GuideThe Cabinet Maker and Upholsterers Guide is a famous antiquarian book, reference book, and non-fiction work all in one. Many cabinetmakers and furniture designers still use it as a ready reference for making period furniture or designs inspired by this era. Historians of domestic life or the...
, with two further editions published in 1789 and 1790.
Many are quick to praise the designer George Hepplewhite, but there are inconsistencies to his fame. The published guide books, that claim George Hepplewhite as their author, were released after his death by his widow. It was not until years after his death that his designs started to receive recognition. Little is known about the man George Hepplewhite and only his death certificate seems to offer any hard evidence of his existence. The question rises if “George Hepplewhite” was a real person or just a name for Alice Hepplewhite to publish under?
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
furnitureFurniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
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.
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