Attributed to Jacob-Desmalter Empire Period Mahogany Commode with Swans Decoration Circa 1810
Vendu
A magnificent and decorative artistic mahogany and flamed mahogany veneer from Cuba commode, opening by four drawers and featuring a superb varnished, blackened and gold leafed mahogany swan neck decoration, the top in Black marble from Belgium, magnificent heart locks, lovely gilt-bronze lock entries and drawer handles.
This French Empire period commode that we attribute to Jacob-Desmalter is to be compared to the one sold by Christie's in September 2007. It has been restored in our workshop, the sides formerly split, have been stabilized and the whole has been varnished with a stamp varnish. It is worth noting that the chest of drawers has its period locks and period bronzes. A slight accident to the marble is to be reported, it can be repaired at the request of the buyer.
Measurements: H 38.97 In. - W 53.14 In. - D 24.60 In.
François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter:
François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770–1841) oversaw one of the most successful and influential furniture workshops in Paris, from 1796 to 1825.
Biography:
Son of Georges Jacob who launched the Louis XVI style and the Directoire style, he joined forces in 1796 with his brother Georges Jacob Fils to create Jacob Frères Rue Meslée. His father had benefited from the orders of the royal family under the Ancien Régime, the two brothers fulfilled the orders of the imperial family.
Using sketches by the painter Jacques-Louis David and the ornamentalists Percier and Fontaine, the brothers created furniture inspired by Greco-Roman antiquity to launch the Empire style.
Their style is characterized by a great quality of drawing, pure lines, original forms, the use of chiselled golden bronzes (made by Pierre-Philippe Thomire). In woodwork, he uses mahogany, gilded wood, and lacquered wood with, sometimes, ebony inlays and native woods such as maple or yew.
For Empress Josephine, they delivered furniture to the Malmaison castle, also at the Palais Rohan in Strasbourg, between 1807 and 1809, for the bedroom known as "Napoleon I's". They worked at the Château de Compiègne. They deliver the imposing cradle of the King of Rome, the precious jewelry cabinet of Empress Marie-Louise, according to the drawings of Percier and Fontaine. We owe them the silver salon at the Élysée Palace. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Highly dependent on imperial orders, their workshop, which employed more than three hundred workers, went bankrupt in 1813 when the finances of the First Empire no longer allowed them to honor their debts. Jacob-Desmalter, however, managed to resurrect his business, and at the fall of the Empire, he returned to his father's Bourbon clientele to make furniture in the Restoration style. His son, Georges Alphonse (1799-1870), succeeded him in 1825.
He is buried in the Père-Lachaise cemetery.
