Matthias Lock
c.1710-1765
"The famous Mr.Matt Lock . . .
reputed the best Draftsman in that way
that had ever been in England." - 1
English carver and furniture designer who some claim
influenced Chippendale. The Redwood's "New Book of Ornaments" (1768) shows
how Lock not only introduced French rococo style to England, but gave it
new twists, including 'C' scrolls, masks, birds, dragons, and water forms:
A New Drawing Book of
Ornaments,
Masks, Compartments, Shields, etc.
~ selected images ~
drawn and engraved by M.
Lock
From the Redwood's
Cynthia Cary Collection.
As for Lock's alledged influence on Chippendale, Gilbert
recounts that in 1929, Fiske Kimball and Edna Donnell deduced, from stylistic
similarities in their work, that Chippendale worked on a sub-contract basis
for Lock before setting off on his own. A more generally held view is the
reverse: that Lock was employed by Chippendale, c. 1752.
next page
The Redwood's Cynthia
Cary Collection contains seven of Matthew Lock's books
of ornament, plus four other of his works.
Furniture in Print: Pattern Books
from the Redwood Library by Christopher P. Monkhouse and Thomas
S. Michie explains the Cynthia Cary Collection and is available from the
Redwood Library.
1- Gilbert, Christopher,
The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, pp. 103-4. © 1978
Tabard Press, 27 W. 20th St., N.Y.,N.Y.
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