Bas d’Armoire

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Bas d’Armoire

Artist François Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter French, 1770-1841

Dateabout 1812

Dimensions39 3/4 x 76 1/2 in. (101 x 194.3 cm)

Mediumburr yew wood, gilded and patinated bronze, rouge griotte marble top

ClassificationFurniture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Mr. and Mrs. George M. Jones, Jr., Fund, the Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy Fund, the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott, by exchange, and the Museum Purchase Fund

Object number

1996.29

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 31

Collections

Decorative Arts

Published References

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 224, repr. (col.).

Samoyault, Jean-Pierre, Mobilier Français Consulat Et Empire, Paris, 2009, p. 84, repr. (col.) p. 85, fig. 151.

Label TextA low wardrobe used for storing clothes, this bas d’armoire (bah darm-WAHR) was originally commissioned for the Chateau de Malmaison, the residence of Napoleon’s first wife, Empress Josephine (1763–1814). Its maker, François Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter, was Napoleon’s preferred cabinetmaker. The gilded bronze heads with Egyptian-style headdresses appear to be a particular reference to Napoleon’s war campaigns in Egypt (1798–1801). Other gilt-bronze decorations include roundels with scenes of victorious Roman gods and goddesses and bands of olive branches, lotus buds, and Greek palmettes. The design reflects the prevailing Neoclassical style of the day, which stressed a nostalgia for classical antiquity and designs that embodied a sense of power, order, and grandeur. This bas d’armoire was originally part of a set, which included a desk now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. It is made of richly patterned burr yew on the exterior, mahogany on the interior, and a top of rouge griotte, a French mottled gray marble. Two secret drawers are hidden to the right and left of the center drawer.