Jardiniere
attributed to Jacob Frères
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1800
Materials
Burr elm, ormolu, bronze, tin, deal, oak
Measurements
88.5 x 72.3 x 72.3 cm
Place of origin
Paris
Order this imageCollection
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
NT 206574
Summary
A burr elm, ormolu and bronze-mounted jardinière, French, circa 1800 - 1805, possibly by Jacob Frères. Of hexagonal form. The top with an ormolu rim and with a well, with later removable liner. The friezes mounted with alternating ormolu mounts of flower-filled urns, birds and winged medallions. Raised on six tapering patinated bronze columns, topped by capitals in the form of a winged female bust or zephyr and with ormolu foliate-cast plinths. All on an hexagonal platform base centred by a small hexagonal platform and topped by a patinated bronze urn with ormolu mount.
Full description
A pair of jardinières at the Château de Fontainebleau are modeled with the same Zephyr capitals atop tapered bronze columns. This pair was originally made for the Hôtel du Général Moreau, rue d'Anjou, which was furnished by Jacob Frères and Lignereux. A gueridon made for Madame Bonaparte's boudoir at Saint-Cloud shares a similar bronze vase mount to the base platform. A circular table in the Musée Marmottan has similar ormolu mounts. An hexagonal table sold at Christie's in 1984 and again in 2012 has almost identical mounts and columns. The design for this jardinière was published in 1802 in Pierre de La Mésangères, Meubles et Objets de gout (Plate 84). Jacob Frères was the stamp used by the brothers Georges II (1768 - 1803) and François-Honoré Jacob (1770 - 1841) from 1796 - 1803. They were the sons of Georges Jacob (1739 - 1814), a furniture maker who worked for aristocracy and royalty during the reign of Louis XVI. Among his clients during that time were Marie Antoinette, the Comte d'Artois, and the Comte de Vandrenil. Georges Jacob worked from designs by David and by a partnership of Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine. The Jacob Frères most famous client was Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. She would have most likely seen the work of their father during the revolution in a progressive aristocrat's house. She used them to decorate various imperial residences, such as the Tuileries palace, and remained a loyal customer, using them almost exclusively, until her death. When Georges II (the elder brother) died in 1803, Georges came out of retirement to help the remaining son, François-Honoré (who changed his named to Jacob Desmalter) from a new partnership called Jacob Desmalter Et Cie. (stamped Jacob D. R. Mesleé, on two lines), which continued to be a influential supplier for the imperial period and is credited with helping to define the Empire style as it is known today. This jardinière is currently the subject of further research. (Megan Wheeler, 2017).
Provenance
Listed in the 1965 Inventory taken at Wimpole in the Entrance Hall (p. 1), and positioned there in a photograph published by Country Life on 7 December 1967. Actual date of acquisition not recorded, but probably acquired by George Bambridge (1892 - 1943) and Elsie Bambridge (1896 - 1976), who purchased a largely empty Wimpole in 1938. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1976 by Elsie Bambridge.
Makers and roles
attributed to Jacob Frères, cabinetmaker
References
Hussey, 1967: Christopher Hussey. “Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire - II” Country Life 7 December 1967, 1466 - 1471, p. 1468, Figure 4