Jacob - Restoration Period Speckled Mahogany & Gilt Bronze Psyche Mirror Cabinet, Stamped

Mirrored cabinet called psyche in solid mahogany and mahogany veneer, rich trim of chiseled and gilded bronzes. It opens with a door decorated with a mercury mirror, flanked by two double folding light arms. Work from the Restoration period from the 1820s. On the back the stamp .JACOB used by François-Honoré Georges Jacob between 1813 and 1825. François Honoré Georges Jacob (1770-1841) was the most fashionable cabinetmaker and seat joiner between 1796 and 1825. He was the son of Georges Jacob, the most talented of the seat joiners of the Ancien Régime with Séné. Trained by his father, he joined forces in 1796 with his brother Georges II to create Jacob Frères rue Meslée and supply the imperial family. The two brothers created the Empire style by sculpting in wood the models imagined by the painter Jacques Louis David and the architects Percier and Fontaine. When Georges Jacob fils died in 1803, François Honoré continued his activity under the Jacob Desmalter brand on rue Meslée. The firm supplied the Imperial family and the notables of the Empire but remained very dependent on official orders due to its size (300 workers). Jacob went bankrupt in 1813 and François Honoré Jacob revived it, this time using his father's stamp, erasing the G of Georges to leave only the .JACOB. His activity continued until 1825 when he handed over to his son Georges Alphonse. Our cabinet dates from the period 1820 - 1825. The Jacob being the influencers of the new taste, if the style remains very Empire, the rounded corners are more Restoration, which will then become the Charles X style. It is interesting to measure the quality of this piece of furniture: speckled mahogany is a luxury veneer (a species with "natural defects" which was highly sought after in luxury furniture for its strong decorative effect). But above all the fact that the piece of furniture is mainly in solid mahogany and not in veneer: shelves, bottom of the cabinet are in solid. Last detail, our piece of furniture is equipped with a secret trapdoor: a double bottom which comes out with a set of springs to hide valuable objects and documents away from thieves. Beautiful amateur piece of furniture, it is not everyone's mirrored cabinet. Excellent original condition: no accident to the mahogany, nor any part redone. the french-varnished mahogany has been cleaned and repolished by our cabinetmaker. One interior shelf is cracked, some small losses to the bronzes. Height: 210cm Width: 108cm Depth: 53cm