Untitled
probably François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770 - 1841)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1805
Materials
Mahogany, beech, brass, velvet, braid, hessian, webbing
Place of origin
Paris
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 608226
Summary
A set of four mahogany desk chairs, or fauteuils de bureau, French, circa 1805, probably by François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770 – 1841).
Full description
For years these chairs have been considered English, and in the manner of designs published by George Smith at the beginning of the 19th century. They are French, however, and bear a very close resemblance to desk chairs which feature carved animal heads (rams' heads are also known) at the ends of the arms which were made by the firm of Jacob-Desmalter at the beginning of the 19th century in Paris. Some of the chairs bear English caps and castors (stamped COPE'S PATENT), but these are almost certainly replacements.
Provenance
Originally a set of six, probably acquired by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Lord Berwick (1877 - 1947) in Paris, circa 1919. Two were sold in the 1970s. Five listed in the Library in the Inventory taken at Attingham Park in 1913 (p. 87). Listed in the 1947 Probate Valuation taken there amongst 'Residuary Effects' (p. 30) and in the 1954 Insurance Valuation (p. 1). Thence bequeathed by Edith Teresa Hulton, Lady Berwick (1890 - 1972) and transferred from HM Treasury to the National Trust in 1976.
Makers and roles
probably François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter (1770 - 1841), ébéniste