A set of twelve Louis XVI white-painted dining chairs circa 1770, stamped G. Jacob

The chairs: B. Fabre & Fils, Paris, 1985

The upholstery: Henri Samuel, 1985

All with some scattered age and construction cracks. Some very minor losses to carvings, not extensive. Paint refreshed, now with losses and rubbing overall. Some with later blocked feet. Some with minor signs of old worm damae. In otherwise good overall condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Dining chairs of this type by Georges Jacob almost always share the common feature of the pieds en console. Jacob often produced dining chairs with such legs but with different backs: oval, rectangular, or en gondole. His oeuvre includes not only dining chairs with legs en console, but also fauteuils, bergères and tabourets, see Christie's London, July 6, 2006, lot 119, Sotheby's New York, November 17, 1984, lot 307 and Sotheby's New York, October 23, 1971, lot 633. Jacob had an enviable clientele and his commissions came from the wealthiest aristocratic and royal circles: chairs identical to the lot offered here were made for the queen's garde meuble and are now in the Palais de Fontainebleau (see Jarry & Devinoy, Le Siège Français, 1973, p. 230, no. 229). According to Jacob's personal notes, he also executed a set of thirty dining chairs of this design, probably for the Comte d'Artois at the Château de Maisons, in 1777. Twelve of these chairs were sold Sotheby's Monaco, June 18, 1999, lot 127. Chairs with comparable backs and seats attributed to Jacob bearing the inventory marks of the Château de St. Leu, originally supplied to Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duc de Chartres and duc d'Orléans, were sold Christie's New York, May 25, 1993, lot 88. Jacob's work was also popular outside France and he received commissions from foreign royal courts as well: in 1782 a pair of fauteuils and a canapé with scroll legs identical to those of the lot offered here, were purchased for the Wittelsbach family through the Parisian agent Bourjot for 4358 livres. For more information on these pieces, now in the Residenz in Munich (see Brigitte Langer, Die Möbel der Residenz München, Die französischen Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts, vol. I, Munich, 1996, pp. 219-221). The fact that the menuisiers Jean-Baptiste Boulard and Jean-Baptiste Sené imitated Jacob's design and produced fifty chairs of the same form for Louis XVI's dining room at the Château de Versailles in 1786, suggests the enormous popularity of the original prototype (see Pierre Verlet, Le Mobilier Royal Français, 1945, pp. 81-83, pl. XLV). Identical chairs with the same horseshoe-shaped back, legs en console and toupie feet are now in the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute. A pair of grey-painted chairs of this design was sold Sotheby's Parke Bernet, October 20, 1979, lot 185 and a gilt pair was sold Sotheby's New York, November 12, 1999, lot 374. A model of this chair is illustrated Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 2002, p. 455.