Lot Essay
The SL brand is that of the château de Saint Leu, on the edge of the Fôret de Montmorency. In 1774 the late 17th century château belonged to Jean-Jacques de Laborde, banker to the Court, who carried out many improvements, particularly to the gardens. The property passed to another well-known banker Nicolas Beaujon, who sold it in 1780 to the duchesse de Chartres, wife of Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc de Chartres (1747-1793). The duc de Chartres, Philippe Egalité, succeeded his father as duc d'Orléans in 1785; his wife was the daughter of the duc de Penthièvre and grandaughter of the comte de Toulouse. The château was purchased by her in order to escape the notice of the duc de Chartres' many creditors. On his succession in 1785 the duc d'Orléans sold the château de Saint-Cloud, an Orléans property, to Louis XVI. From 1810-1815 the château de Saint-Leu was the home of Queen Hortense, wife of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland from 1806-1810, and daughter of Empress Joséphine. After his resignation in 1810 he became comte de Saint-Leu. Following the Cent Jours (June 1815) the château was bought by the last Prince de Condé. After his death in 1830 it was demolished.
Four chairs from the same set, identically branded, were sold at Sotheby's, New York, 4 May 1984, lot 55. They also bore the remains of paper labels and were numbered 4,13,15 and 20 indicating that the set originally comprised at least twenty chairs.
The accomplished design and refined carved detail is entirely consistent with Jacob's style. The rounded inner edge of the seat-rail is a technical device which he appears to have particularly favoured, although it was also used by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené. The unusual arched backs are found on a number of chairs by Jacob, for example a chair illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'Art et La Manière des Maîtres Ebénistes Français Au XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1956, p.128, fig. C. The shape is repeated on the set of fifty grey-painted dining-chairs supplied by Boulard and Sené for Louis XVI's Dining Room at Versailles in 1786 (P. Verlet, Le Mobilier Royal Français, 1945, pl. XLV)
Four chairs from the same set, identically branded, were sold at Sotheby's, New York, 4 May 1984, lot 55. They also bore the remains of paper labels and were numbered 4,13,15 and 20 indicating that the set originally comprised at least twenty chairs.
The accomplished design and refined carved detail is entirely consistent with Jacob's style. The rounded inner edge of the seat-rail is a technical device which he appears to have particularly favoured, although it was also used by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené. The unusual arched backs are found on a number of chairs by Jacob, for example a chair illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'Art et La Manière des Maîtres Ebénistes Français Au XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1956, p.128, fig. C. The shape is repeated on the set of fifty grey-painted dining-chairs supplied by Boulard and Sené for Louis XVI's Dining Room at Versailles in 1786 (P. Verlet, Le Mobilier Royal Français, 1945, pl. XLV)