Thomas Chippendale was a very important furniture maker and designer. Sir Rowland Winn who owned Nostell Priory in the 1760s and 1770s asked Chippendale to make some very interesting pieces of furniture for his house.

Can you find the following pieces of furniture as you go round the house? There are questions to answer and things to draw as you go round.

Crimson RoomOn the right hand wall in this room you can see a big piece of furniture that looks like a wardrobe. This is called a Clothes Press. In the 18th century people would fold their clothes and lay them on shelves rather than hanging them on coat hangers.

Can you spot these decorations on the clothes press? The leaf shape is called a ‘stiff leaf’ and the row of flowers is called a ‘blue bell drop’.

Chippendale TrailNostell Priory

To the right of the clothes press is a Gentleman’s Dressing Table. Gentlemen as well as ladies would wear make up and wigs. Would you like to wear a wig and make up?

Can you guess what some of these items inside the drawers were used for?

In the Georgian period men dressed very differently from today. They wore fancy silk suits with lace ruffles on their wrists and neck. They wore silk stockings with designs embroidered on them and high heeled shoes!

They wore their hair long and powdered into tight curls. They powdered their hair by applying a sticky substance and flour dyed in brown, grey, white, blue or pink! They also wore make up – pale face powder, rouge or blusher on their cheeks and lipstick.

To top it all off they carried fans and silk handkerchiefs soaked in perfume!

State Dressing RoomIn the centre of the room is a Lady’s Dressing Table. This dressing table is made from wood but it has been painted in green and gold to make it look as though it came from somewhere far away like China. It matches

the other decoration in the room. The wallpaper is very old and was hand painted in China over 250 years ago. This style of decoration is called ‘Chinoiserie’ and you can also see furniture like this at Harewood House.

Ladies fashion and make up was even more fancy than the men’s…and strange!

They used white lead paint to cover their faces, this was very dangerous because lead is poisonous. They used to cut little circles or shapes out of red or black silk and stick them on their face as beauty spots – the real reason for this was to cover up the scars on their faces.

To colour their lips the ladies would use red Plaster of Paris, and for their eyebrows they would stick on mouse skin!

The strangest of all was their hair. They would wear the tallest wig possible and then decorate it with feathers, ribbons, fruit and flowers!

Draw a Georgian man and lady in the boxes below – don’t forget the high heels and huge wigs!

The clothes press is made of a wood called mahogany which was very expensive in the 18th century.

SaloonTo the right of the room is a Lady’s Writing Table. This writing table would have been used by Sir Rowland Winn’s wife to write her letters to her friends and family. The screen at the back of the table moves up and down so that when she was sitting close to the fire her face wouldn’t get too hot. Ladies wore white make up on their faces and this could melt if they got too warm.

If you could go and sit at the table who would you write a letter to? Use the piece of paper below to write the first sentence.

LibraryIn the centre of the room is a large Writing Desk. This desk was made for Sir Rowland Winn by Thomas Chippendale and cost £72 10s 0d. This is the modern equivalent of thousands of pounds.

To the right hand side of the room are a set of Library Steps. These were made by Chippendale to be used in this room. You could sit on the stool to read your book or you could open it up into a set of steps so that you could reach up and get the book that you wanted off the shelves.

What is your favourite book?

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How many books do you think are in the library? (Count the books on one shelf and then multiply it by the number of shelves.)

Number of books X Number of shelves = total books

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Library Steps open

Library Steps closed

Dear

Can you find the desk in a painting in the room? Who are the people in the painting? Write their names here…

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Can you find the the head and feet of an animal on the desk? What sort of animal is it? Write the name here…

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