François Honoré Georges Jacob-Desmalter, cabinetmaker

This French stool adopts the form of the curule, a backless folding chair with low arms and curved legs that form an X. The style derives from Imperial Rome, where it was used as a transportable seat for military commanders. Although often a symbol of political power, the chair’s form was also employed for domestic use, as seen in this example. Napoleon I commissioned royal furnishings of this type for his bedroom at Fontainebleau and ordered other examples from the firm of Jacob-Desmalter for his palace at Saint-Cloud.