Antiques Education: Jacob-Desmalter Chairs & French 19th century Decorative Art (what to collect?)
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2022
- This thorough video discusses the troublesome 19th century as it pertains to collectors of "antique" or decorative art furniture from the past. The key is in discerning between pre-industrial art quality pieces (such as these exceptional chairs), and the vast majority of 19th century factory pieces. We explore this topic in the presentation of these museum quality armchairs from the 1830s (a period considered pejoratively "late" in the traditional timeline of the decorative arts) which are signed nevertheless by one of the great names in furniture history. Georges-Alphonse Jacob-Desmalter (1799-1870) was the last of the celebrated Jacob family of master furniture makers. He took over the family workshop in 1825 (the same year he delivered pieces to King Georges IV of England) and now today his pieces are published and conserved in major museums worldwide.
The video thus sheds light on this under-appreciated period of the 1830s, by showing how many great pieces from this decade are not different in nature from the highest quality pieces of the previous decades which are already thoroughly appreciated. I hope the video will also provide an overview about Jacob furniture, while preserving these specific pieces online, and while helping new collectors better understand what to look for in the vast and vague "19th century."
Many thanks to all viewers and subscribers,
Cole
Myers and Monroe, LLC
Great little lecture, this chap has a nice relaxed speaking style and really know his stuff, it will be good to see more..
Totally agree!
It's strange that we don't realize the colors and vibrance of periods past. Bright and bold. Love.❤
Wow, lots to take in there, your knowledge is amazing, thank you so much for posting,
Your knowledge on this period is amazing. At first sight I thought they were Restoration / Charles X (they owe much to that epoch) but when you said 1835 I was thrown off a bit. f they are authentic signed pieces, they will go for a hefty sum. Good luck with their sale.
Great video.
Thank you,
Jeff
Great information. Thank you. I have recently begun to appreciate French furniture more and more.
Thanks for watching and I’m very glad to hear this !
Thank you for being so informative! What beauty of art to share!
✨ Bravo! ✨
Thank you so much for the education. You have improved UA-cam (& thus the world). Hurray!
Thanks for such a nice comment - glad you liked the video!
Thank you for this very informative video about the Jacob family. I’ve seen the family name referenced in many design books I’ve read and in design magazines. Your passion for furniture history shines through. Incidentally, do you ever carry Biedermeier pieces? I would be interested in your thoughts.
Well, I do like pieces from the Biedermeier period which is itself sort of ambiguous...? Long timeline 1815-1848 with all sorts of different levels of quality... even though I think the word refers mostly to somewhat affordable pieces. I think you might be talking about the really spectacular "Biedermeier" Austrian secretaries sometimes in a balloon shape with totally wonderful inlay work etc... that type of extraordinary Biedermeier I find very interesting and hope to have one day but for the time being I'm more focused on French work since thats what I know how to find best.
You have a good taste, maybe we will make business one day !!
Thank you ! The pieces are often unusual but I try to keep it all within the bounds of good taste!
This is such an interesting topic, and summarised so perfectly!
Do you have any recommendations for reference books on French furniture? (In English 😅)
Thank you for the kind words and I'm glad you liked this unusually long video! Well, I need to work on that - English language references..one book which is exceptional, not the easiest thing to read... but really really good...quite the rabbit hole of learning about this whole subject Morley, John.
Morley, John, The History of Furniture.
@@MyersMonroe Thank you - I'll try and get a copy 😃
Very exquisite chairs how much will they cost price wise ?
Well these were recovered with the exact same silk (which is not exactly affordable) so with that work done the pair was sold for $12,000 to a couple in Kansas City. They are using them as decoration/collectors items in a nook at the base of a large staircase. They are remarkably solid but even back in the day pieces like this were displayed in large homes and lightly used.
Why is called PERIOD ??
This word means epoca !
The chairs appear to me to be both muscular and masculine. Very much a reflection of napoleonic style and taste. Was Louis Philipe known for favouring such a style? A look back at history and empire?
Well it’s more that in the tradition of luxury, fine pieces like this - we don’t really see much unique Louis Philippe in the early 1830s … although these are 1830s they are very much a sort of final chapter to the empire style rather than “Louis Philippe”
@@MyersMonroe understood. Thank you