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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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A very rare Empire carved mahogany fauteuil de bureau attributed to Jacob-Desmalter et Cie, the shaped rounded back carved with a swan upon a foliate and scrolled pedestal amid scrolling anthemion branches, the arms terminating in carved lion heads on curved supports above a black leather seat with straight seat-rail on turned legs Paris, date circa 1810 Height 78 cm, width 62 cm. Lion heads and swans were among a number of motifs borrowed from Antiquity that were later incorporated within the Empire style. The overall design and quality of this impressive chair relates to other works by the celebrated firm of Parisian ébénistes Jacob-Desmalter et Cie. The firm produced a number of similar chairs with arms terminating in lion or leopardess heads as well as swans, dolphins and sphinxes. For instance Georges II (1768-1803) and François-Honoré Jacob (1770-1841), under the name of Jacob Frères produced a set of fauteuils with arms terminating in lion heads for use at the Tuileries during the Consulat. Later in 1804 the firm, renamed Jacob-Desmalter et Cie used the same design for another set supplied to Fontainebleau, an example of which is now in the Musée de Marmottan, Paris, (illus. Marie-Noelle de Grandry, “Le Mobilier Français, Directoire Consulat Empire”, 1996, p. 57). Another fauteuil with lioness heads by Jacob Frères was commissioned in 1802 for Napoleon’s uncle, Cardinal Fesch (d. 1839) at the time of his appointment as Archevêque de Lyon. In the same way that Napoleon adopted the bee as his personal emblem, Joséphine chose the swan. After her divorce she refurbished some of the rooms including her bedroom at Malmaison. For this she commissioned Percier and Fontaine to design a suite of furniture which was executed by Jacob-Desmalter. Included was a gilded bed featuring swans at its head as well as a set of fauteuils ornamented with swans. Swans also featured in other pieces made by the firm during its long and successful duration, for instance as a carved back support for a chair by Georges Jacob (1739-1814, founder of the firm). His sons, working as Jacob Frères also featured swans on a mahogany secrétaire (J. Lefèvre collection), as did F-H.-G Jacob-Desmalter’s boat-shaped bed made for Madame Récamier (examples of which are illustrated respectively in Denise Ledoux-Lebard, “Le Mobilier Français du XIXe Siècle”, 2000, pp. 286, 301 and 318). |