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Lot Essay
The design for this chair, with its curved back, dramatic and muscular winged lion monopodia, a severe yet elegant blending of Greco-Roman and Egyptian forms, derives from the design by Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine of 1795 (private collection), when they were commissioned to draw up designs to refurnish the National Convention Hall of France. These plans were submitted in collaboration with Georges Jacob who, as one of the foremost skilled menuisiers of the time, was responsible for manifesting these remarkable designs in the flesh.
The inspiration for this model derives from antique marble and bronze furniture discovered during the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the mid-18th century. The winged lion monopodia, in particular, derived from marble tables (M. Jarry, Le Siège Français, Paris, 1973, pp. 283-292). Jacob produced a number of versions of this armchair, one now in the Château de Malmaison (inv. MM50.6.1) was used by Napoleon and was subsequently given as a gift to his physician Jean-Nicolas Corvisart (1755-1821) in 1798. A further pair of fauteuils of the same model, stamped ‘G. IACOB’, were sold from the collection of Prince Murat, at Drouot, Paris, 14 June 1983, lot 126. One fauteuil sold at Sotheby’s, Paris, 11 December 2019, lot 32, from the collection of the comtesse de Ribes, formerly in the collection of the comte de Bari.
Fauteuils of this type also appeared in contemporary portraits, such as the Portrait de François-Adrien Boïeldieu, by Boilly, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen (inv. 905.1.1) and Bouchet’s portrait of Eugène Isabey, now in a private collection. In both works the fauteuil is prominently placed in the foreground, at an angle designed to show the sinewy nature of the imposing front leg. This cross collaboration worked both ways, the painter Jacques-Louis David produced designs for Greco-Roman style furniture which were manufactured by Jacob and incorporated into David’s paintings.
THE HÔTEL DE CAMBACÉRÈS
The fauteuil bears a stencil mark to the seat which denotes it as being formerly in the library of the Ministry of Public Works, within the Hôtel de Roquelaure, the former Hôtel de Cambacérès.
The Hôtel de Cambacérès was constructed in 1722 for the Maréchal de Roquelaure who sold it in July 1740 to Mathieu-François Molé, the first President of the Parliament of Paris. In 1808, Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès acquired the residence as well as the adjacent Hôtel de Lesdiguères.
Born in 1753, and coming from a family of lawyers, de Cambacérès enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence in the period following the revolution. He was made Second Consul of France in 1799, then Archchancellor of the Empire from 1804-1814 and was Napoleon’s principal advisor. During this period, Cambacérès completely renovated the interiors of the hôtel. It is likely that the present fauteuil formed part of his collection, the imposing design suiting a man of his stature within the newly formed Empire. The close nature of his relationship with Napoleon, who had his own version of this model (now in the Château de Malmaison), also implies that this was a piece he was likely to have commissioned. Cambacérès was exiled from France in 1816 when the hôtel was sold, partially furnished, to the Duchess de Penthièvre, widow of Philippe-Égalité and mother of the future King Louis-Philippe I.
In 1839, an ordinance assigned the building to the Ministry of Public Works. The building was restored and fitted out for its new function by Félix Duban (1797-1807), the architect and great connoisseur of Greco-Roman architecture.
In 1796 Georges Jacob transferred the ownership of his workshop to his sons Georges II and François-Honoré, who manufactured his designs under the name Jacob Frères. The elder son Georges oversaw the management of the firm while his younger brother François-Honoré specialised in the practical side of the business. In 1803 François-Honoré became the sole manager of the firm upon his elder brother’s death, which became known as Jacob-Desmalter et Cie. The business then passed to his own son until 1847 when the firm was taken over by J. Jeanselme.
The design for this chair, with its curved back, dramatic and muscular winged lion monopodia, a severe yet elegant blending of Greco-Roman and Egyptian forms, derives from the design by Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine of 1795 (private collection), when they were commissioned to draw up designs to refurnish the National Convention Hall of France. These plans were submitted in collaboration with Georges Jacob who, as one of the foremost skilled menuisiers of the time, was responsible for manifesting these remarkable designs in the flesh.
The inspiration for this model derives from antique marble and bronze furniture discovered during the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the mid-18th century. The winged lion monopodia, in particular, derived from marble tables (M. Jarry, Le Siège Français, Paris, 1973, pp. 283-292). Jacob produced a number of versions of this armchair, one now in the Château de Malmaison (inv. MM50.6.1) was used by Napoleon and was subsequently given as a gift to his physician Jean-Nicolas Corvisart (1755-1821) in 1798. A further pair of fauteuils of the same model, stamped ‘G. IACOB’, were sold from the collection of Prince Murat, at Drouot, Paris, 14 June 1983, lot 126. One fauteuil sold at Sotheby’s, Paris, 11 December 2019, lot 32, from the collection of the comtesse de Ribes, formerly in the collection of the comte de Bari.
Fauteuils of this type also appeared in contemporary portraits, such as the Portrait de François-Adrien Boïeldieu, by Boilly, in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen (inv. 905.1.1) and Bouchet’s portrait of Eugène Isabey, now in a private collection. In both works the fauteuil is prominently placed in the foreground, at an angle designed to show the sinewy nature of the imposing front leg. This cross collaboration worked both ways, the painter Jacques-Louis David produced designs for Greco-Roman style furniture which were manufactured by Jacob and incorporated into David’s paintings.
THE HÔTEL DE CAMBACÉRÈS
The fauteuil bears a stencil mark to the seat which denotes it as being formerly in the library of the Ministry of Public Works, within the Hôtel de Roquelaure, the former Hôtel de Cambacérès.
The Hôtel de Cambacérès was constructed in 1722 for the Maréchal de Roquelaure who sold it in July 1740 to Mathieu-François Molé, the first President of the Parliament of Paris. In 1808, Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès acquired the residence as well as the adjacent Hôtel de Lesdiguères.
Born in 1753, and coming from a family of lawyers, de Cambacérès enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence in the period following the revolution. He was made Second Consul of France in 1799, then Archchancellor of the Empire from 1804-1814 and was Napoleon’s principal advisor. During this period, Cambacérès completely renovated the interiors of the hôtel. It is likely that the present fauteuil formed part of his collection, the imposing design suiting a man of his stature within the newly formed Empire. The close nature of his relationship with Napoleon, who had his own version of this model (now in the Château de Malmaison), also implies that this was a piece he was likely to have commissioned. Cambacérès was exiled from France in 1816 when the hôtel was sold, partially furnished, to the Duchess de Penthièvre, widow of Philippe-Égalité and mother of the future King Louis-Philippe I.
In 1839, an ordinance assigned the building to the Ministry of Public Works. The building was restored and fitted out for its new function by Félix Duban (1797-1807), the architect and great connoisseur of Greco-Roman architecture.
In 1796 Georges Jacob transferred the ownership of his workshop to his sons Georges II and François-Honoré, who manufactured his designs under the name Jacob Frères. The elder son Georges oversaw the management of the firm while his younger brother François-Honoré specialised in the practical side of the business. In 1803 François-Honoré became the sole manager of the firm upon his elder brother’s death, which became known as Jacob-Desmalter et Cie. The business then passed to his own son until 1847 when the firm was taken over by J. Jeanselme.