BY JACOB-DESMALTER, CIRCA 1835-1840

Details

A Louis Philippe ebony, ebonised, ivory and mother-of-pearl bookstand
BY JACOB-DESMALTER, CIRCA 1835-1840
The top and ratcheted, hinged slope, inlaid with delicate arabesques highlighted with mother-of-pearl details, above a moulded book-stop, the back and sides carved in relief with arabesques, floral scrolls and putti, between spreading fluted acanthus wrapped pilasters headed by stylised corinthean capitals with female masks, the pierced doors carved with S-scrolls and cornucopiae, and centred by a male and a female carved ivory bust, enclosing a red velvet-lined interior above a waved apron with centred by the crowned initials FPO, flanked by scrolling serpents, on multi-baluster spreading supports with floral and foliate carving joined by an undertier, centred by a domed, acanthus-carved panel, on foliate scroll feet with hidded castors, stamped three times *Jacob
135 cm. high x 81 cm. wide x 59 cm. deep

Special notice

Christie's charge a premium to the buyer on the final bid price of each lot sold at the following rates: 23.8% of the final bid price of each lot sold up to and including €150,000 and 14.28% of any amount in excess of €150,000. Buyers' premium is calculated on the basis of each lot individually.

Further details

END OF AFTERNOON SESSION

Lot Essay

The crowned initials FPO belong to Ferdinand Philippe Duc d'Orleans, eldest son of King Louis Philippe (1810-1842). Ferdinand Philippe was killed in a riding accident in 1842. He was a great patron to the arts and had a taste for the innovative. The present bookcase can certainly be regarded as innovative for its day, and must be amongst the earliest renaissance revival pieces to have been made. The craftsmanship is superb, the whole cabinet abounds in a miriad of details, one even finer than the next. It is unfortunate that so little is known about the final phase of the firm of Jacob, though the present lot should spur on further research into this area.

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