Offered by GSLR Antiques
2 Empire period armchairs that can form a pair. Empire period of the 1810s and attributed to Jacob Desmalter (not stamped).
Our seats are interesting due to their certified Imperial and Royal provenance since they have the iron marks of two prestigious palaces: The Tuileries for one (TH, inventory numbers T2329 and Garde Meuble Royal under the reign of Ling Louis XVIII) and Fontainebleau (FON, inventory numbers and once again the mark with 3 fleur-de-lis under the Royal Crown). They are most probably seats intended for secondary apartments, but undeniably of historical origin.
To celebrate the bicentenary of Napoleon death, we bought these two seats separately from two different origins and had them restored in an identical way to illustrate an interesting vision of the great official orders placed by the Imperial Regime. This venerable institution was charged by the Emperor of the refurnishing of Palaces such as the Tuileries, Fontainebleau, Compiegne by ordering Jacob and Marcion for 20, 30, 50 identical armchairs. These two workshops, official suppliers of imperial furniture, were often subcontracted, copying the models of one or the other to provide the quantities requested as quickly as possible.
This is the case with our seats, which are of the same model, identical but with slight differences (height and mounting of the backrest for example). Could the explanation be multiple, subcontracting from Jacob to Marcion, or orders made a few months or years apart? In any case, they were not meant to be placed together side by side. The distance of 50km between the two palaces made them identical, but this interesting confrontation shows the reality of their similarities.
We made these seats fully restored: dismantled, reassembled, relaquered, rechampis, new seat and covered with Tassinari and Chatel lined silk. It seemed interesting to us to offer them for sale together "as a pair", to illustrate the uses and orders of the imperial furniture administration.
These seats are on sale now but will only be available in a few months. They are initially loaned for 3 months to the Museum of the Hotel Abbatial de Lunéville (54) for its special exhibition for the year Napoleon "Soyer Father and Son, Miniaturist and Scientist in the heart of the Empire". They will then be represented in the exhibition catalog and will become museum pieces.
Fontainebleau armchair: width 61cm, back height 91.5cm, seat height 40.5cm
Tuileries armchair: width 61cm, back height 94cm, seat height 40.5cm
