Georges Jacob was one of the two most prominent Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

ian master menuisiers, producing carved, painted and gilded beds and seat furniture and upholstery work for the French royal châteaux, in the early Neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 style that is usually associated with Louis Seize

Louis XVI of France

Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....

.

Jacob arrived in Paris in 1754 and apprenticed with the chairmaker Jean-Baptiste Lerouge where he met Louis Delanois

Louis Delanois

Louis Delanois was a Parisian menuisier who specialized in seat furniture in the late Rococo taste and an advanced neoclassical taste. Among his notable patrons were mme du Barry, the comte d'Artois, brother of the king, Philippe, duc de Chartres and the duc de Condé...

, whose advanced neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 taste was to have a great influence on Jacob. He was received master 4 September 1765, presenting for his masterpiece a small chair of gilded wood, which survives. Without marrying either the daughter or the widow of an established menuisier, Jacob set up his own premises. He employed in his workshop numerous specialist carvers and gilders

Gilding

The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...

. In 1785 Jacob produced the first mahogany

Mahogany

The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....

 chairs à l'anglaise, for the comte de Provence. He retired in 1796, leaving his workshop in the hands of his sons, one of whom was François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter

François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter

François-Honoré-Georges Jacob-Desmalter oversaw one of the most successful and influential furniture workshops in Paris, from 1796 to 1825...

. When his other son died, Jacob returned from retirement to oversee the constant supply of furnishings for Napoleon's residences.

After Delanois' early death, Jacob's only serious rival in his field was Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené.

His descendent Hector Lefuel, son of the architect Hector Lefuel

Hector Lefuel

Hector-Martin Lefuel was a French historicist architect, whose most familiar work was the completion of the Palais du Louvre, including the reconstruction of the Pavillon de Flore after a disastrous fire.He was the son of Alexandre Henry Lefuel , an entrepreneurial speculative builder established...

, wrote the monograph, Georges Jacob (Paris, 1923). Two models in beeswax attributed to Georges Jacob, one for a fauteuil

Fauteuil

A fauteuil is a style of open-arm chair with a primarily exposed wooden frame originating in France in the early 18th century. A fauteuil is made of wood, and frequently with carved relief ornament. It is typically upholstered on the seat, the seat back and on the arms . Some fauteuils have a...

and one for a bed 'a la turque', have remained in the family's possession.