Pair of Empire Style Mahogany & Gilt-Bronze Bergères, Manner of Jacob-Desmalter

A fine Empire style gilt-bronze and mahogany gueridon, with a Verde antico marble top, in the manner of Jacob-Desmalter. French, circa 1880. The circular Verde antico marble ...

A Majestic Louis-Philippe Giltwood and Gilt Composition King Size Bed, after a model by Francois-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter, the outwardly curved headboard flanked by two open-wi...

A fine Empire style gilt-bronze mounted mahogany centre table with a Vert de Mer marble top, in the manner of Jacob-Desmalter. The rectangular Verde Antico marble top sits above ...

A Gilt-Bronze Mounted Empire Style Mahogany Settee. France, Circa 1890.

A French Empire Georges Desmalter Mahogany Frame Cane Bergere Armchair With Rams Head Pediments With Square Tapering Legs & Hoof Feet. François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770–...

A pair of Empire mahogany fauteuils or armchair 'a la Reine' in the manner of Jacob-Desmalter/ François-Honoré-Georges Jacob Desmalter (1770-1841, son of Jacob Desmalter), newly upho...

A pair of late 19th Century Italian Louis XV style oval back of bergeres upholstered in a green striated velvet.

A Directoire Mahogany Bergère Attributed to Georges Jacob, its curved back and padded armrests with finely carved baluster-shaped supports raised on turned front legs and sabre back legs. With a spurious Jacob stamp to back rail. The term "Directoire" refers to a historical period following the French Revolution (1789) and preceding the First Empire when Napoleon reigned, but also to a style of furniture and decoration covering a longer period from 1789 to 1804. It is characterized by the production of furniture with simplified forms and ornaments, inspired by antique decorations. The profound social and political upheavals that marked this period had a direct impact on the production of Directoire furniture. The stripping down of furniture pieces, which had begun in the 1780s under the influence of Greek art, was accentuated during this period. The abolition of guilds by the revolutionaries also forced manufacturers in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine to simplify shapes and materials. Elegant and graceful, the furniture is generally small-scale. They retain the Louis XVI structure. The Directoire style adopts clean shapes, straight lines, simple curves, flat surfaces and right angles. Lines accentuate geometric shapes inspired by Antiquity. A typical trait is the pronounced rolled-over back, similar to a scroll illustrated in our bergere, evocative of the klismos chair. Only the more luxurious pieces of furniture use mahogany, an exotic and expensive wood. Despite his humble origins, Georges Jacob rose to become one of the most renowned menuisiers of his day. Unlike many artisans who joined their fathers or brothers in the middle-class family trade of furniture making, Jacob was from a peasant family and moved to Paris at sixteen to begin his career. He apprenticed in a joinery workshop and eventually became a master in 1765. He developed a reputation for producing inventive designs for chairs, beds, and screens carved with such motifs as twisted ribbons, guilloches, beading, and fluting. Jacob's reputation grew quickly, eventually spreading outside France; the future King George IV of England, Gustavus III of Sweden, and several German princes...