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Lot Essay
This beautifully-carved canapé à joues à la reine was executed by the celebrated menuisier Georges Jacob (maître in 1765) who came to be known for his outstanding craftsmanship and innovative productions, of which the present lot is no exception. The distinctively-curved accotoirs, short spirally-fluted legs and large proportions of the present lot make it an unusually grand and innovative piece worthy of the menuisier.
A closely related canapé executed by Jacob as part of a large suite, was purchased in the 1780's from the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre for the Drawing Room at Carlton House. While a comparable canapé also appears in a gouache by Jean-Baptiste Mallet (1759-1835), (now in the Musée Marmottan in Paris, see M. Jarry, Le Siège Français, Fribourg, 1973, p. 285, pl. 42), the most closely related example is perhaps the canapé supplied by Louis-Charles Carpentier (maître in 1752) for the Salon of the Prince de Condé's Petits Appartements at the Palais Bourbon in 1771-2, now in the Louvre (ill. in B.G.B. Pallot, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, Vol.2, pp.122-5. no.39).
Interestingly, a very closely related canapé à joues, featuring similarly-shaped accotoirs and short spirally-fluted feet, was executed by Jean-Jacques Pothier (maître in 1750) and sold Tajan, Paris, 12 June 2003, lot 105. The similarities between the latter canapé and the present lot suggest that Pothier, along with celebrated menuisiers such as Jean-Baptiste Sené and Jean-Baptiste Boulard (maîtres in 1769 and 1755, respectively), did collaborate with Jacob on commissions from their most distinghuished patrons. A suite stamped by both Pothier and Jacob which Bill Pallot dates to circa 1768-70 - of which eight fauteuils are now at the Château de Fontainebleau - brings further evidence of the occasional collaboration between the two menuisiers (L'Art du Siège au XVIIIème Siècle en France, Paris, 1987, p.193).
A closely related canapé executed by Jacob as part of a large suite, was purchased in the 1780's from the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre for the Drawing Room at Carlton House. While a comparable canapé also appears in a gouache by Jean-Baptiste Mallet (1759-1835), (now in the Musée Marmottan in Paris, see M. Jarry, Le Siège Français, Fribourg, 1973, p. 285, pl. 42), the most closely related example is perhaps the canapé supplied by Louis-Charles Carpentier (maître in 1752) for the Salon of the Prince de Condé's Petits Appartements at the Palais Bourbon in 1771-2, now in the Louvre (ill. in B.G.B. Pallot, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, Vol.2, pp.122-5. no.39).
Interestingly, a very closely related canapé à joues, featuring similarly-shaped accotoirs and short spirally-fluted feet, was executed by Jean-Jacques Pothier (maître in 1750) and sold Tajan, Paris, 12 June 2003, lot 105. The similarities between the latter canapé and the present lot suggest that Pothier, along with celebrated menuisiers such as Jean-Baptiste Sené and Jean-Baptiste Boulard (maîtres in 1769 and 1755, respectively), did collaborate with Jacob on commissions from their most distinghuished patrons. A suite stamped by both Pothier and Jacob which Bill Pallot dates to circa 1768-70 - of which eight fauteuils are now at the Château de Fontainebleau - brings further evidence of the occasional collaboration between the two menuisiers (L'Art du Siège au XVIIIème Siècle en France, Paris, 1987, p.193).