Pair of chaises with detached columns attributed to Henri Jacob

France, Louis XVI period, circa 1785-1790.
Molded, carved and gray-painted beech.

This elegant pair of chaises in molded, carved and grey-painted beech has a rounded belt on the front. The latter is decorated with a rich sculpted decoration developing two registers of friezes - pearls and heart stripes - alternating with a flat molding. The whole thing is punctuated by connecting "dices" flanked by rosettes and dominating all of the four tapered legs hollowed out with twelve grooves, which allows us to date these chairs from the end of the 1780s. Each leg is crowned with a double molded ring, highlighting a wide plain band and punctuated by a quarter-round molding, and is finished with a sabot.
Supported by two "dices" with rough grooves, the back with a ribboned and molded hat, slightly curved and made in a fan shape, repeats exactly point by point the ornamental ensemble of the lower part of the seats. Convertible in shape, it is flanked by detached columns with rudent flutes crowned with the same ring and the same band as those of the feet and topped with sculpted plumes. These columns are connected to the backrest by four boxes inlaid with rosettes identical to those found for the base. Enhanced at its internal perimeter with a pearl frieze, the backrest displays a frieze of heart stripes in its upper part and in its lower part. The gray "old paint" has some gaps, allowing us to see traces of white color that match the original lacquer.

The quality of the execution pays homage to the know-how of the best carpenters of the last quarter of the 18th century and certain characteristic motifs previously described allow us to compare this pair of chaises to the work of Henri Jacob (1753-1824, master in 1779). They are in fact the very example of the accomplished Louis XVI style seat : mastery of the framework reinforced by the adoption of the fluted columns which frame the backs, summary of the typical ornaments of the neoclassical decor presented in this notice, all distributed without ostentation. A very beautiful model of this type of seat, similar to ours in its design, is a suite of four fauteuils in gray-lacquered wood presented at the Sotheby's Monaco sale, December 11, 1999, lot no. 116.

HENRI JACOB
Born in 1753, Henri Jacob was the first cousin of the famous carpenter Georges Jacob (1739-1814, master in 1765). Originally from Cheny in Yonne like him, he settled in Paris in 1770 and completed six years of apprenticeship with his relative before receiving his master's degree in 1779. Thanks to the support of Georges Jacob but also by the high quality of his works, he himself acquired a brilliant reputation and received orders from the Court in 1785, including a very important piece of furniture with thirty seats carved with pearls and leaves acanthus and covered with Beauvais tapestry. Nineteen of these seats were put up for public sale in Monaco on June 24, 1976. But it was above all for the Russian imperial family that he made his most important deliveries in 1782, notably this immense order of around two hundred seats, then furniture, for the Pavlovsk Palace located in the Saint Petersburg region.
His production was very similar to that of his cousin, some of his seats sometimes even being interpretations of George Jacob's models. Other models are sometimes quite similar to those of Jean-Baptiste Claude Sené (1748-1803, master in 1769) or Jean-Baptiste Demay (1758-1848, master in 1784). It is important to note, however, that Henri Jacob also left uncommon creations of excellent quality. Around 1796, it seems that he fell out with the rest of his family when his cousin handed over his workshop to his sons. Furthermore, the latter were so alarmed by the possible confusion of the two workshops and by the damage that this could cause for their company that they placed the following announcement on the Affiches, Annonces et Avis divers du 6 avril 1800 : "The Jacob brothers warn their customers against any confusion between their store and that of Henri Jacob, rue de l’Échiquier."
He made a major sale of his furniture the same year and ended his activity six years later.

LITERATURE : Sylvie Legrand-Rossi, Le Mobilier du musée Nissim de Camondo, Dijon, Éditions Faton, 2012.

Good general condition, usual restorations and maintenance.