(Picture © Jacques Kuyten)

Carved mahogany and mahogany veneer
Credited to Jacob brothers (1796—1803) or to Jacob-Desmalter (1803—1813)
France, early 19th century
Dimensions: h. 83 × w. 71 × d. 54 cm

This desk chair has a curved and enveloping back called gondola – a name that appeared under the Directory. The top of the slightly reversed and delicately hemmed backsplash, descends in a regular slope to reach the top of the arched armrest, represented by the winding of a wing. The rear feet are sabre-shaped, the slightly concave front waistband is smooth. The anterior uprights are made up of lion’s heads with pronounced sinuous eyebrow arches. The mane on their chest is formed by palmettes. Their body has the form of a hock ending in a clawed foot. They deploy long wings with finely sculpted plumage ending in a coil centred on a blooming flower. The sculpture’s remarkable quality and the elegant curved surface of the connection between the cross member of the backrest and the armrest reveal a perfect mastery from both carpenter and sculptor.

The origin of this base seems to be the office armchair with a hemicycle backrest shown on a drawing board intended for Georges Jacob’s workshop. This sketch is credited to Charles Percier’s (1764—1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine’s (1762—1853) workshop.

These architects and decorators appear to be the main representatives of late French neoclassicism. This stylistic movement drew inspiration from archaeological research – in this case, furniture excavated in Rome, Herculaneum and Pompeii. Although we don’t know the final project for this seat, we can find a number of boards that show his inspiration in Charles Percier’s sketchbooks. The winged lion monopod can indeed be found in Roman table legs, rolling wings on an Antique throne, the lion’s muzzle on a fountain element.

This type of chair was very successful until the Empire period and several cabinetmakers were inspired by it. Among them, Georges Jacob (1739—1814), but also Jean-Baptiste Sené (1747—1803). The two delivered numerous copies of this model for the various revolutionary assemblies that advocated a certain standardization of models. Several similar copies are listed in the public collections. One of them, executed around 1795 and credited to Georges Jacob, is kept at the Château de la Malmaison (reproduced in Samoyault, 2009, p. 27, fig. 29). Another, is kept at the Marmottan museum (inv. n° 347). The Sené armchair is part of the Mobilier National collections.

It also appears in Pierre de la Messangère’s Journal des Dames et de la Mode (Ladies and Fashion Magazine), which was published from 1797 to 1839. This illustrated publication appears to be one of the first French fashion magazines. It truly shaped European taste right from the Directory period and its influence, which was considerable all over Europe, partly explains the extraordinary dissemination of models from the Jacob house.

In 1796, Georges Jacob’s two sons, Georges II and François-Honoré, joined forces and took over the workshop. They used the signature “Jacob Frères Rue Meslée” until 1803, and continued to produce variations based on their father’s creations. When Georges Jr. died in 1803, the house took the name Jacob-Desmalter. Indeed, François-Honoré took over the workshop after his elder brother’s death and associated his name with that of a family property in Burgundy, les Malterres. Jacob-Desmalter then became the main supplier of the imperial palaces. However, it went bankrupt in 1813 but lasted until 1846 under the management of François-Honoré’s son, Alphonse, before being taken over by Jeanselme.

The combination of the winged lion protome front legs and the gondola backrest – frequently used by house Jacob – is unprecedented. La Messangère’s illustration above is timely as to its early date – 1805. The winged lion motif was often treated by the Jacobs. Several similarities between their various creations can be noted, which confirms this seat can be credited to Jacob Frères or to Jacob Desmalter:

• Napoleon’s mechanical desk made by Jacob-Desmalter (Château de Fontainebleau, inv. F481C)
• the cylinder desk delivered in 1805 for the Royal Palace of Laeken in Belgium (reproduced in Samoyaut, 2009, p. 98)
• several consoles exhibited at the Château de Fontainebleau (Samoyaut, 2004, pp. 96-98)
• a pedestal table executed between 1801 and 1806, preserved at the Château de Versailles (inv. T 347 C) stamped Jacob Desmalter, or the one delivered by Jacob-frères in 1800, today at Malmaison.

Bibliography

• Sylvie Chadenet, Les styles Empire-Restauration, Paris s.d., Baschet, p. 60 fig. 3
• Jean-Pierre Samoyaut, Musée national du Château de Fontainebleau. Catalogue des collections de mobilier. Meubles entrés sous le Premier Empire. RMN , 2004
• Jean-Pierre Samoyaut, Mobilier Français, Consulat et Empire, éd. Gourcuff Samoyaut, Paris, 2009, p. 27, fig. 29
• Guillaume Janneau, Le mobilier français. Les sièges, éd. J. Fréal, 1974, p. 182, n°351
• Jean-Jacques Gautier (s/dir.), Sièges en société : histoire du siège du Roi-Soleil à Marianne, éd. Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2017, p. 188
• Hetor Lefuel, Catalogue du musée Marmottan, imp. Frazier-Soye, paris 1934, p.
• Denise Ledoux-Lebard, Le Mobilier Français du XIXe siècle. 1795-1889, Dictionnaire des ébénistes et des menuisiers, éd. de l’Amateur, Paris, 1989, p. 578
• Christophe Huchet de Quénetain, Les styles Consulat et Empire, Paris, 2005, p. 104
• Pierre de la Messangère, Collection de meubles et objets de goût comprenant : fauteuils d’appartement et de bureau, chaises garnies, canapés, divans, tabourets, lits, draperies de croisées, tables, commodes, secrétaires, bibliothèques, toilettes d’homme […] : Cahier [5]
• Michel Beurdeley, Jacob et son temps, éd. Monelle Hayot, 2002, p. 80
• Jean-Phillipe Garric et al., Charles Percier (1764-1838) : Architecture et Design, Fontainebleau/Paris, RMN, 2017

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This article was originally written in French by Thierry-Nicolas Tchakaloff. Translation by Laurent Garcia.