Hepplewhite, George

(died 1786, London, Eng.) British cabinetmaker. He was apprenticed to a furniture maker in Lancaster and later opened a shop in London. His reputation is based on his Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide (1788), containing some 300 designs. Pieces based on his designs are rare and none can be definitely attributed to his firm, nor can his personal responsibility for the designs be established; the plates in the book are unsigned. The designs have the simplicity, elegance, and utility associated with the graceful Neoclassical style (e.g., chairs with straight, tapered legs and oval backs). His designs were borrowed by Thomas Sheraton and Duncan Phyfe.

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