Jean-Joseph Chapuis

Belgium

Person

Designer

Born 6 June 1765 Brussels, Belgium Died 10 February 1864 Brussels, Belgium Jean-Jacques Chapuis trained as a cabinetmaker in Paris between about 1786 and 1795 and was awarded the title ‘maitre ebeniste’, which entitled him to mark his furniture with the ‘estampille’ of the cabinetmakers’ guild. In 1795 he established his own workshop in Brussels. Between 1796 and 1799 he designed and produced seating furniture in the Directoire style distinguished by its reduced forms. Around 1800 he began experimenting with laminated wood; by about 1803 he had developed a lamination technique and designed the Chaise de Garde in the Consulat style, followed shortly afterwards by the first version made entirely of laminated wood. In 1805/06, commissioned by Napoleon, he contributed to the furnishings of the Royal Castle of Laeken. From 1805 he maintained close ties with the Paris workshop of Francois-Honore-Georges Jacob-Desmalter and produced numerous laminated furniture pieces, often using contrasting layers of mahogany, ebony and bog oak that highlighted the construction method. Around 1808 to 1810 he created the final modified version of the Chaise de Garde. During the 1820s he designed laminated wood furniture in the Biedermeier style. In 1830 he ended his active design career.