Description:

Set of Eight Important French Restauration Brass Inlaid Rosewood Chaises, c. 1830, by George Alphonse Jacob-Desmalter (1799-1870), each stamped on underside "Jacob" with lozenge preceding the J. and with the capital letter "A" denoting The Chateau or Royal Commission; each with rectangular upholstered back, back-scrolled stiles, square seat, saber legs Note: Georges-Alphonse Jacob-Desmalter, the grandson of Georges Jacob (1739-1814) and the son of François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770-1841), inherited his family's furniture workshop in 1825, under the reign of King Charles X. Like his father and grandfather before him, Georges-Alphonse Jacob-Desmalter created furniture for the King and the Royal Family of France. The letter "A" stamp under the seat rails is likely an inventory stamp for the Château d'Arc-en-Barrois in the Haute-Marne. The Château d'Arc-en-Barrois was owned by Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, duc de Penthièvre; the château was inherited by King Louis-Philippe through his mother, Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre, daughter of the duc de Penthièvre. These chairs are quite similar in design to those designed by François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter for the bedchambers of Napoleon I at the Château de Malmaison and the Château de Compiègne. All three suites of chairs depict a curvilinear, Empire-style, upholstered back. However, while the Malmaison and Compiègne suites both have saber-form back legs and intricately carved, straight front legs, the suite illustrated here employs curved back and front legs, which act together withh the curved back to create a more flowing and coherent form to the chair. Additionally, instead of ornately carved and gilded legs with bronze mounts, which were the fashion during the first Empire, these Restauration chairs feature brass inlay, maintaining the grandeur of the suite unencumbered by the ostentatious decoration of earlier pieces. The characteristics of these chairs - the use of inlay instead of ormolu, the lack of ornate and intricate carving, and the curvilinear forms throughout the suite - all reflect the fashions of Restauration period furniture, a style which Georges-Alphonse Jacob-Desmalter often created for the royal family of France. Ref.: Michel Beurdeley, Georges Jacob et son Temps; Grandjean, Empire Furniture 1800 to 1825, and Ledoux-Lebard, Les Ebénistes du XIX Siècle, p. 312.

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November 21, 2015 10:00 AM CST
New Orleans, LA, US

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