CIRCA 1750-60

These asymmetric, serpentined girandoles are designed in the French 'pittoresque' fashion popularised in the three editions of Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754-62. At the same time Thomas Johnson, carver and gilder of Queen Street, Seven Dials, published Twelve Gerandoles, 1755, representing some of the earliest designs for girandoles in the Rococo style. These were adapted and added to in subsequent publications culminating in 1761 in One Hundred and Fifty New Designs, which included frames, chimney-pieces, lanterns and 'slab frames' (side tables) of highly inventive and romantic form, and reflecting Johnson's abilities as an expert carver