A Chippendale table that's 'the epitome of light-hearted Chinoiserie design', one of the National Trust's greatest treasures

The Garrick Dressing Table (1775) made by Thomas Chippendale in situ at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire A white and green japanned mahogany dressing table, by Thomas Chippendale (1718 - 1779) London, circa 1775. Ordered and made for the best dressing room at Garrick's Villa, Hampton, owned by David and Eva Garrick and part of a suite of bedroom furniture supplied by Thomas Chippendale. The dressing table with a double hinged top opening at the centre and enclosing a fitted interior of lidded wells and open compartments for bottles and containers centred by a mahogany framed retractable and adjustable mirror, rising on a ratchet mechanism. With false and true drawers to the sides and raised on square section chamfered legs headed by pierced spandrels or corner brackets, brass casters. The top japanned and decorated with figures and pagodas within landscape scenes incorporating trees and shrubs and framed with a Greek key border. The front and sides decorated with conforming scenes and with foliage and exotic birds. The legs with flower head medallions and bell flower drapes. Glass top for protection.

(Image credit: ©National Trust Images/James Dobson)

The National Trust’s collections are not only vast, but contain objects of astonishing beauty, quality and human interest. To coincide with the Trust’s 125 anniversary, we asked nine senior curators — including national experts in painting and sculpture, textiles, furniture and decorative arts — to choose their favourite object from among those in their care.

The Garrick Dressing Table by Thomas Chippendale, about 1775 at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire

Chosen by Louisa Brouwer, curator, East of England

A masterpiece of 18th-century Japanned furniture, the Garrick Dressing Table, which was made by Thomas Chippendale for the Hampton villa of actor David Garrick and his wife, Eva, is the epitome of light-hearted Chinoiserie design.

Part of a full white and green bedroom suite, the table is decorated with mirthful scenes of figures, pagodas and exotic birds set within a bucolic landscape. Its tasteful ornamentation would have perfectly suited a villa designed for entertainment and escape.

The fitted interior of lidded wells and open compartments of the Garrick Dressing Table.

Acquired by the 1st Lord Fair-haven for Anglesey Abbey, Cambridge-shire, Chippendale’s ‘Garrick Dressing Table’ is one of the standout — and most coveted — objects in my care.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/anglesey-abbey-gardens-and-lode-mill

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