For nearly 60 years, Chippendale's workshop on St . Martins Lane in London supplied clients with wallpapers, carpets, chimney pieces, fire grates and ormolu in addition to case pieces.
The exhibition will also examine Piranesi's lesser-known interiors and decorative objects, including mantels, chimney pieces, tables, chairs, candle stands, mirrors, sconces, vases, urns and teapots.
Mercifully it is not yet possible to 3D print Piranesi's prisons, but the free rein of fantasy that his Carceri exemplify also ran to ideas for Egyptian-style chimney pieces and unreal views of impossible jumbles of Roman ruins.
In New York the elder Mr. Hobbs maintains notebooks with photographs of his wares, which range from 18th-century Italian tables and massive chimney pieces to overscale mirrors to giant marble torchiers designed by Piranesi.
When given a free hand, he included interior decoration and furniture in his architectural schemes, one of the best examples being his alterations and redecorations at Osterley, Middlesex, where he provided harmonious designs for even the lock plates and chimney pieces.
(Chinese-reproduction iron benches, cast-iron pots and chimney pieces are not welcome).But, despite evidence of a burgeoning market for garden furniture, the best news for dealers might be that Christie's detects that the market for traditional "brown furniture" has bottomed out.
