JACOB, Georges
(b. 1739, Cheny, d. 1814, Paris)

Ceremonial Bedroom of Pauline Borghese

c. 1804
Carved, painted and gilded wood
British Embassy, Paris

Georges Jacob was, like Riesener and Roentgen, a furniture maker of the 'ancien régime', but he survived the Revolution more successfully and formed a bridge between the Louis XVI and the Empire styles. His early work is strongly Rococo, but he soon changed to the fashionable Louis XVI style. He was a leader in simplification, being one of the first in France to use ungilded wood in his furniture. Jacob was protected by Jacues-Louis David, and he worked as designer during the Empire. Despite of his earlier taste for simplicity, Jacob responded enthusiastically to the requirements of imperial grandeur. Some of the best Jacob pieces were made for the Empress Josephine at Malmaison.