TWO CURL CHAIRS FORMING HANGERS in mahogany, the... Lot 250

TWO CURL CHAIRS FORMING HANGERS in mahogany, the rectangular "plank" back decorated with two small consoles in volute in the lower part, the armrests supported by horns of plenty surmounted by balls, the base in X carved in high part. One stamped Jacob -Frères rue Meslée and the other attributed. Directoire period, circa 1795 (small crack in a backrest, some restorations) H : 89 - W : 64 - D : 450 cm H : 92 - W : 66 - D : 47 cm Provenance : Le Fuel collection and remained in his descendants until today. This chair is directly inspired in its general shape by the "sella curulis" of ancient Rome reserved for magistrates and high dignitaries, hence its name "curule". It is also part of the craze for Antiquity at the end of the 18th century, aroused by the discoveries of the sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii, illustrated in France, among others, by the writings of the Count of Caylus without forgetting the Egyptian campaign of Bonaparte reported by Baron Vivant Denon in "La Basse et la Haute Egypte" published in 1802. These armchairs were made after a drawing by Charles Percier kept in a private collection, reproduced opposite. They illustrate perfectly the "antiquisante" phase in the production of Georges Jacob (1739-1814) and in its continuation that of his sons, George II and François-Honré-Georges Jacob, under the name Jacob-Frères as attested by one of the armchairs we present. One of the two armchairs is reproduced in "Léon de Groër, Les Arts Décoratifs de 1790 à 1850, Fribourg 1985, Office du livre Ed. p. 23, Fig. 30. Finally, a comparable armchair, although not stamped, is reproduced in G. Janneau, Les sièges, Paris, 1967, p. 171, fig. 324. - An identical model is kept in the Musée Marmottan and reproduced in "l'Empire, Musée Marmottan " collective work, ABC Décor N° hors série July 1977, p. 49. - An identical pair with ivory balls and attributed to G. Jacob was in the Christian Dior collection, sale Paris 6 November 2014 n° 439 adj 95 000 € - An identical example in the former Grognot-Joinel collection, reproduced in " Le siège en France du Moyen Age à nos jours " Pierre Devinoy, Paris 1948, p. 257. Bibliography : - in J-P Samoyault, Le Mobilier Français Consulat et Empire, Paris 2009, p.27 figs. 25-26. - Claude Frégnac, Les ébénistes du XVIIIe siècle français, Hachette, Paris, 1963, p. 240 fig. 1 - Denise Ledoux-Lebard, Les ébénistes du XIXe siècle. 1795-1889, Les éditions de l'amateur, Paris, 1984, pp. 283, 331 and 369. - Michel Beurdeley, Jacob et son temps, Editions Monelle Hayot, Saint Rémy en l'Eau, 2002, p. 15. TWO ARMCHAIRS "CURULES FORMING IN MAHOGANY ONE STAMPED JACOB -FRERES RUE MESLEE AND THE OTHER ATTRIBUTED DIRECTOIRE PERIOD, CIRCA 1795