Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Rare pair of armchairs in solid mahogany and mahogany veneer inlaid with ebony and lemon wood.
Model with inverted backs centered on openwork grilles held by high and low crossbars.
The high crossbars have rectangular reserves made up of ebony fillets with stylized lotus flowers in the center framed by two scrolls.
The finely carved and openwork grilles with two scrolls drawing hearts in which ebony and lemon palmettes are inlaid.
The uprights are in the form of sheaths ending in the upper part with two winged deities wearing the Nemes (Egyptian headdress of the pharaohs) and in the lower part with lion claws.
Saber feet at the back.
Perfect state of conservation.
Traditional natural horsehair and webbing trim, covered in blue satin.
The two armchairs stamped under the rear crossbars “Jacob Frères rue Meslée”.*
Parisian work from the Consulate period around 1800.
Dimensions:
Height: 93 cm; Width: 59cm; Depth: 65 cm
Nearby armchairs:
-An armchair, Artcurial Sale December 12, 2019; lot 112 (7150 euros); coming from the large gallery of the Hôtel Lassay (gallery which connected the national assembly to the hotel where the president of this institution housed)
-Three chairs sale Christie’s Paris May 26, 2020; lot 207 (25,000 euros) from the office of the 1st consul at the Tuileries Palace.
-A model chair from the office of the 1st Consul at the Palais des Tuileries has been kept at the Chateau de Rambouillet since 1806.
Our opinion :
The pair of armchairs that we are presenting was made by the company "Jacob Frères" in the 1800s, a few months after the Egyptian campaign and the victorious return of General Bonaparte.
Crowned with glory following his numerous victories, the latter was named 1st Consul for life in 1802.
He will then commission the famous cabinetmaker family to create the furniture for buildings where power is centralized.
The Tuileries, the National Assembly and even Malmaison will be equipped with these robust armchairs which are well suited to officers.
The style is still very much inspired by the latest fashionable productions under the old regime, particularly ancient Etruscan productions, but it already incorporates the fabulous discoveries made in the temples on the banks of the Nile.
Sphinxes, pharaohs' heads, water lilies and lotuses will now adorn state furniture, with a style that will be called "return from Egypt".
This exotic production combined with light shapes and precious wood inlays marks the quintessence of the consulate style.
The furniture that the Jacob Frères company delivered during the years 1800-1803 was only intended for official buildings, the imperial family or even a military or artistic elite.
If the style greatly appeals to great officers, such as marshals, it also appeals greatly to women, like Joséphine and Hortense de Beauharnais who will be very fond of this Egyptomania which affects the capital.
But it was the beautiful Juliette Récamier who would provide one of the best advertisements for the “Jacob Frères” company, by ordering a famous set which is today kept at the Louvre Museum.
Our pair of armchairs perfectly reflect this refinement and this return of a true court which settled in Paris, with a new world and a government from the military world.
*The stamp: "Jacob brothers, rue Meslée" is used by the two sons of Georges Jacob, Georges II (1768-1803) and François-Honoré-Georges (1770-1841), joined forces to take over the workshop of their father under the company name “Jacob Frères”.
The association lasted from its creation in 1796 until 1803, the date of the death of George II.
In the company that they managed together until towards the end of the Consulate, the eldest (Georges II Jacob) took care of the commercial administration and the second of the technical part. François-Honoré-Georges called himself Jacob-Desmalter, from the name of a property his father owned in Burgundy.
General Bonaparte, returning from Italy, ordered from the Jacob brothers, for his bedroom on rue Chantereine, a curious piece of military furniture, the bed of which simulated a tent and the drum seats. Later the First Consul called on the same cabinetmakers to refurnish the former royal residences devastated by the Revolution. After having until then produced works of very sober taste, which stood out above all for the character and purity of the style, the Jacobs began to manufacture pieces more richly decorated with sculptures and bronze.
