AFTER THE MODEL BY FRANCOIS-HONORE-GEORGES JACOB-DESMALTER, LATE 19TH CENTURY

The design for the present imposing chair relates closely to that of the fauteuil du Trône supplied for the sum of 8.900 francs by the celebrated Parisian ébéniste, François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (d. 1841), for the salle du Trône of Napoleon I at the Palais de Saint-Cloud in 1804. Based on designs by Charles Percier (d. 1838) and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine (d. 1853), Jacob-Desmalter's original chair was constructed of gilt walnut with an oval back and with star-studded finials in solid ivory. In the late 19th century, the Empire style was revived by such firms as Maison Antoine Krieger and his contemporaries. Notably, a pair of giltwood throne chairs was supplied to the New York offices of F.W. Woolworth, sold Chritie's, New York, 26 October 2000, lot 260.