Oak frame; mahogany veneering; bronzed wood; gilt bronze, metal; leather, blue velvet with gold border.
H. 85 cm. (33 ½ in.); W. 204 cm. (80 ½ in.); D. 101 cm. (39 ¾ in.).
PROVENANCE: former collection of Cecil Blumenthal, known as Blunt, and Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (1885-1971), Count and Countess Pecci-Blunt, at the “Villa Reale” in Marlia (Tuscany).
LITERATURE: Eveline Schlumberger, “Un palais décoré par Elisa Bonaparte”, Connaissance des Arts, August 1957, No. 66, pp. 48-53, ill. p.50.
Its great originality, imposing size and bronze decoration brilliantly illustrating the Egyptian taste in vogue in Paris at the very start of the 19th century, make this table an extraordinary item.
Reputed to be Napoleon’s “actual map table”, which went with him on all his campaigns, this remarkable item of furniture was part of the collection of the Count and Countess Pecci-Blunt, who placed it in the middle of the antechamber on the first floor of the “Villa Reale” in Marlia, Tuscany, the former residence of Elisa Baciocchi, Napoleon I’s sister, Princess of Lucca and Piombino and Grand Duchess of Tuscany under the Empire, a mansion they had acquired in 1923.
The Jacobs are one of the most famous of the Parisian cabinet-making families, who, over three generations from the last third of the 18th century until the end of the first half of the 19th century, succeeded in keeping the reputation of their firm at the highest standard. Georges Jacob, the father of the dynasty, was awarded the title of master in 1765. From 1773 until the Revolution, Georges Jacob kept working for the Garde-Meuble to the Crown, supplying the main royal residences. From 1781, he held various positions in his guild of cabinetmakers. In 1788, he became head-assistant and was elected head of the guild on the following year. Under the First Empire, Jacob-Desmalter became a joiner, cabinetmaker and manufacturer of furniture and bronzes for L.L.M.M.I.I. and R.R. (Their Imperial and Royal Majesties), the Emperor and Empress, also being King and Queen of Italy since 1805. During the entire reign of Napoleon I, he was the main supplier of the Mobilier Impérial, far outstripping all his contemporaries.
