EXCEPTIONAL CURULE ARMCHAIR IN SOLID MAHOGANY after Jacob-Frères Rue Meslée Solid mahogany Curule armchair in the Empire style. Rectangular "plank" backrest adorned with two small volute consoles at the bottom, armrests supported by horns of plenty topped with balls and carved X-shaped base at the top. Provenance: Private collection, remained in the same family through descent to the present day. H: 95cm - D 47 cm - W: 66cm Condition : scratches on the back of the backrest, cracks. Sold by designation This chair is directly inspired in its general form by the "sella curulis" of ancient Rome, reserved for magistrates and high dignitaries, hence its name "curule". It was also part of the late 18th-century infatuation with Antiquity, sparked by the discoveries of the sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii, illustrated in France, among others, by the writings of the Comte de Caylus, not forgetting Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign, as recounted by Baron Vivant Denon in "La Basse et la Haute Egypte" published in 1802. This armchair is based on a design by Charles Percier. It is a perfect illustration of the "antiquisante" phase in the production of Georges Jacob (1739-1814) and his subsequent sons, George II and François-Honré-Georges Jacob, under the name Jacob-Frères, as evidenced by this armchair. One of these armchairs is reproduced in "Léon de Groër, Les Arts Décoratifs de 1790 à 1850, Fribourg 1985, Office du livre Ed., p. 23, Fig. 30".