A Fine Mahogany And Gilt-Bronze Second Empire Canapé

François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770-1841) was Napoléon’s pre-eminent court cabinetmaker. He built up the business of his father, the well-known chairmaker Georges Jacob, into one of the most important and successful furniture workshops in Paris which by 1808 employed 332 workmen producing annually furniture valued at 700,000 francs.

Jacob-Desmalter et Cie produced neoclassical Empire style furniture often working to Percier and Fontaine’s designs, such as for Napoléon’s throne for the Château de Saint Cloud made in 1804. Cessation of the Parisian guild restrictions of the Ancien Régime meant that Jacob-Desmalter was free to produce both seat furniture and case furniture, the latter usually being made of mahogany and to neoclassical designs.

Heavily dependent on the patronage of the imperial household with cliental including Pauline Borghese, Napoleon sister, and the Empress Josephine, when the Emperor fell from power in 1813 the business went bankrupt. Jacob-Desmalter, however, managed to resurrect the company and continued to run it until his son, Alphonse-George, succeeded him in 1825.