Gothic Revival Masterpiece: Top Master Furniture Makers & “Troubadour” (Jeanselme & Period Antiques)

Despite enjoying lesser celebrity than earlier firms, the Jeanselme family of master furniture makers is one of the most significant in Art History. Jeanselme operated from 1824-1930 and was the most significant Parisian chair manufactures of the time. They absorbed the celebrated Jacob furniture company in 1847 and later the Lemarchand firm in 1893 (thereby taking over the largest French furniture workshops of the 19th century). Jeanselme was also official cabinetmaker to the Courts of King Louis-Philippe and Emperor Napoleon III. They were also award winning exhibitors at the Paris Exhibitions and the World's Fairs.

This video seeks to further highlight the difference between original "art-quality" period antiques, and general antiques (a vast and ambiguous category). This should help orient new collectors and enthusiasts of "antique" furniture, while providing a deeper explanation of gothic revival (with special regard to the early, romantic French phase of this movement called Troubadour).

The Troubadour style, rarely discussed in the English language, was far more interpretive and fantastical that what constitutes the bulk of gothic revival during the final third of the 19th century. Troubadour sought to re-propose new and fantastical uses for the gothic style, creating a highly idealized late medieval and renaissance atmosphere, rather than academically copying or reproducing historically accurate late gothic works. It provides us with highly romanticized, whimsical and dreamlike pieces which are original creations, true inventions only inspired by the arts of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Such a significant Jeanselme chair, equivalent to one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a reminder that important works of decorative art can be found even at the latest moment of the traditional timeline circa 1840.

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*this work is no longer available,

Cole Myers
Myers & Monroe, LLC