CIRCA 1785-90

This elegant and richly-carved armchair, constructed of solid mahogany with lavish neoclassical decoration and pierced back, is related to the fashionable goût anglais of the 1780s. It is inspired by chair patterns by such influential English designers as George Hepplewhite (d. 1786) and Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) as published in their celebrated books of designs. An interesting light is shed on the taste for furniture l'anglaise among sophisticated Parisian patrons by a series of letters between the marquis de Marigny, brother of Madame de Pompadour and Directeur-Général des Bâtiments, Jardins, Arts, Academies et Manufactures Royale, and the ébéniste Pierre Garnier, one of the first cabinet-makers to explore the new neoclassical style. Marigny praised the virtues of mahogany and ordered a set of 36 fauteuils from Garnier, as well as other furniture of a similar restrained style, see S. Eriksen, 'Some letters from the Marquis de Marigny to his cabinet-maker Pierre Garnier', F.H.S.J., 1972, pp. 78-85. Related chaises l'anglaises by Jacob are illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 425, figs. A-D.