Empire Mahogany Sofa or Canapé
£5,900
Empire Mahogany Sofa or Canapé in the style of Henri Jacob, the angular, arced back with brass lozenge mount flanked by brass moulded panels over a padded back, the square arms with cylinder caps also mounted with lozenges within brass moulded panels. The loose-cushioned over a panelled frieze raised on conforming, brass mounted square legs.
This style of seat furniture said to be in the ‘Jacob’ style popularized by the St. Petersburg workshops can be compared with a related set of chairs in the Secretary’s room at Pavlovsk, see, Pavlovsk, Palace & Park, Leningrad, 1974, pl. 52. Another related set of chairs in the Family Sitting Room is illustrated, op. cit. pl. 187. An almost identical settee was at Tsarskoe Selo, illustrated G. Loukomski, The Palaces of Tsarskoe Selo, London, 1987, p. 81.
Henri Jacob (1753-1824) cousin of the celebrated Georges Jacob, who was commissioned by the future Paul I to delivered a large amount of furniture to Pavlovsk in 1783, shaping the style of Russian Neoclassical furniture. The two gilt-bronze globular finials evoke furniture in France after designs by the painter David in the 1790s. He proved a huge influence on the Russia-based ébéniste, Christain Meyer, who could well have produced to offered piece in his workshop.
A settee of comparable design and decoration is in the Pavlovsk Palace, illustrated in the 1977 exhibition, A. Kuchumov, Household interior decoration in nineteenth century Russia, Leningrad, 1977, p. 52. See also T. K. Sokolova and T. A. Orlova, Russian interiors of the first third of the 19th century seen through contemporary eyes, Leningrad, 1982, p. 63.
