Model by Georges Jacob, superb mahogany armchair. Nineteenth century.

Magnificent armchair in mahogany and mahogany veneer made after the famous model by Georges Jacob for the Garde Meuble of the National Assembly in 1795.
Very beautiful cabinetmaking from the second half of the 19th century, with careful respect for the details of the original model.
Tapered turned front legs, with double ring at lower end and intricate moldings at upper end. Saber-shaped hind legs.
Quadrangular belt with rectilinear crosspieces.
Armrest supports in the shape of a chimerical animal, with a lion's head on the front dice and a fish tail going up towards the armrest.
Concave socket with hollow bottom with palmette towards the upper end; in each spandrel released laterally between the armrest, the connector and the backrest upright, a floral motif.
Openwork backrest with, halfway up, a frieze of alternating palmettes and rods.
Wide and overflowing upper rail.
Chassis seat with very good quality black leather.

Dimensions:
Height: 96 cm
Width: 62.5 cm
Depth 56.5 cm

History:
Armchair made by Georges Jacob (1739-1814), seat carpenter received a master's degree in Paris in 1765.
The first certain mention of this seat dates from 1795 and the set then includes ten armchairs (including four in the collections of the Mobilier national, GMT 30990 and GMT 31037/1 to 3) and ten chairs (including six in the collections of the Mobilier national , GMT 31038/1 to 6). It was sent from the National Assembly Furniture Guard to the National Furniture Guard, on 13 Brumaire Year IV (November 4, 1795): "ten armchairs in mahogany wood of large shape, board back with cameos and crosspiece with bases and palmettes , the armrests in lion's muffle, the said seats covered in striped horsehair fabric" and "ten chairs in mahogany wood of large plank back shape with camets and lozange in the middle of the back, the said seats covered in striped horsehair fabric " (Arch. nat., O2 396, p. 341).
For Jean-Pierre Samoyault, the composition without a sofa and the horsehair fabric upholstery suggest that these are the seats of a meeting room, perhaps those of the room of one of the committees of the Convention. As this set was sent at the same time as the office of Louis It could therefore be the delivery by Jacob of "supplies of furniture and chairs to the Committee of Public Safety and General Security", in Thermidor Year II, for which the carpenter claims part of the payment on 26 Vendémiaire Year III (17 October 1794).
According to Yves Carlier, the origin would be older and, given the quality and originality of the pieces, it could be furniture made by Jacob for the Duke of Chartres and seized during the Revolution: "20 armchairs and 24 chairs, also made of mahogany wood, in the Etruscan style, with black horsehair seats" (Report by commissioners Boizot, Lemonnier and Desmarest on the works of art and precious objects found in the Egalité house, here -in front of Palais Royal", Nouvelles Archives de l'Art français, third series, vol. 18, 1902, p. 234).
In any case, the whole thing was sent the next day, 14 Brumaire Year IV (November 5, 1795) to the Luxembourg Palace for the service of the Executive Directory.
Present in 1800 in the salon of consul Le Brun, at the Tuileries Palace, Pavilion of Flore. The GMT 31036 sofa was ordered on this date to complete the set (Arch. nat., F13 279).
Unlike the three other armchairs from the same original set kept at the Mobilier national (GMT 30037/1 to 3), this one was not sent to Fontainebleau, but to the Tuileries Palace. The trace is then lost.
Purchase by the Mobilier national at the sale of the Alexandre de Paris collection, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, Wednesday November 8, 1995 (Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, auctioneer; Bernard Gomez, expert), lot no. 566. Good no. 51351 of November 13, 1995.

Bibliography:
-Jean-Pierre Samoyault, French Consulate and Empire Furniture, page 18.
- Lefuel (Hector), Georges Jacob. 18th century cabinetmaker, Paris, Albert Morancé, 1923, p. 358 and p. 368-369
- Ledoux-Lebard (Denise), "The Refurnishing of the Tuileries under the Consulate", Apollo, September 1964, p.199-205
- Ledoux-Lebard (Denise), French Furniture of the 19th Century, 1989, p. 284, 288, 289, 292
- Samoyault (Jean-Pierre) dir., Through the collections of the Mobilier national (exp. cat. Beauvais, National Tapestry Gallery, 2000), Paris, CNAP/Mobilier national, 2000, p. 97-98
- Gautier (Jean-Jacques) dir., Company headquarters. History of the seat of the Sun King at Marianne (exp. cat. Paris, Galerie des Gobelins, April 25-September 24, 2017), Paris, Mobilier national, Montreuil, Gourcuff Gradenigo, 2017, p. 182
- Sarmant (Thierry) (dir.). Napoleon's missing palaces: Tuileries, Saint-Cloud, Meudon. (exp. cat. Paris, Galerie des Gobelins, September 15, 2021 to January 15, 2022), Paris, In fine, 2021,

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