Rococo: Celebrating 18th-Century Design and Decoration

This year marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779), English furniture maker, author of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754), and important disseminator of what is commonly known today as the Rococo style.  Since the 1840s, the term “Rococo” has been used to describe a variety of 18th-century decorative art forms that bear particular ornamental characteristics.  Hallmarks of the style include asymmetrical and naturalistic forms, often achieved through the inclusion of “C” and “S” shape scrolls, and motifs such as foliage, rocks, and shells.  Rooted in France in the 1730s, the style quickly gained popularity in other countries, including England and America, where it was adopted to different degrees.  The exhibition celebrates both Chippendale’s legacy and the iconic style he helped promote through a number of English and American Rococo decorative art forms from Historic Deerfield’s rich collection.