Side Chair (one of a pair) ca. 1755-60 After a design by Thomas Chippendale Whether Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) invented the "ribband-back" chair is not known, but it is certainly the one chair design most frequently associated with his name. The present example, one of a pair of side chairs in the Museum 1 , is based on a design that was included in all three editions of his famous book, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director. 2 The plate illustrates three "ribband back" chairs of similar design. In the first edition, he describes the three chairs without modesty as "the best I have ever seen (or perhaps have ever been made)." 3 In the third edition, he noted that "Several Sets have been made, which have given entire Satisfaction." 4 Little did he know just how many sets would be made by other cabinetmakers, both in London and the provinces, or that ribbonback chairs would continue to be popular throughout the Chippendale Revival in the nineteenth century and even into