Notebook of Sir James Calthorpe

Many customers took a very personal and often well-informed role in the design and furnishing of their houses. James Calthorpe, a minor Court official and sometime MP for the borough of Hindon in Wiltshire, was one of these, and this little notebook is evidence of his care and attention to detail. In it he records notes about the rebuilding on his country house, Ampton Hall in Suffolk, and about the furnishing of his London house in Pall Mall. It includes diagrams of picture arrangements, sketches of sideboards and brackets for busts, notes about furniture and payments to tradesmen. One page is dated 13 March 1758, and across the top of the right-hand page is scrawled in pencil ‘Mr Chippendale is to be with me Tuesdy Eveng at 9'. This was perhaps the following day, Tuesday 14 March. Sir James is not otherwise known to have been one of Chippendale's customers, so this chance survival is a significant document. ‘Home visits' were an important part of Chippendale's work, not merely to save the customer the chore of coming to the workshop, but to be able to discuss their requirements in situ, to advise and consult and ensure that the customer got exactly what he or she wanted. Calthorpe certainly knew what he wanted, taking the lead in designing both his Suffolk and London houses, but it is not known whether Chippendale's visit resulted in a commission to supply furniture.

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