Monbro Aine
Antique 1860s French Napoleon III Mantel Clocks
Marble, Ormolu
Antique 19th Century French Napoleon III Table Clocks and Desk Clocks
Carrara Marble, Bronze
Antique 1860s French Napoleon III Mantel Clocks
Ormolu
Antique Mid-19th Century French Napoleon III Buffets
Bronze
Antique 1880s French Napoleon III Cabinets
Bronze, Ormolu
Antique Mid-19th Century French Neoclassical Decorative Boxes
Malachite, Ormolu
People Also Browsed
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XV Mantel Clocks
Marble, Ormolu, Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Mantel Clocks
Bronze, Ormolu
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Ormolu
Antique Late 19th Century French Decorative Boxes
Ceramic
Antique 19th Century French Louis XVI Mantel Clocks
Bronze, Ormolu
Antique Mid-17th Century Paintings
Copper
Antique 17th Century Belgian Paintings
Canvas
Antique Late 17th Century Belgian Prints
Copper
Antique 18th Century European Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Giltwood, Paint
17th Century Old Masters Paintings
Oil
Antique 1710s Dutch Paintings
Canvas
Antique 17th Century Paintings
Canvas
Antique 18th Century and Earlier Belgian Baroque Tapestries
Wool, Tapestry
Antique 19th Century French Mantel Clocks
Bronze, Enamel
Antique Late 17th Century Dutch Baroque Paintings
Canvas
Antique Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Mantel Clocks
Ormolu, Bronze
Recent Sales
Antique 1860s French Napoleon III Cabinets
Stone, Marble
Antique 19th Century French Napoleon III Candelabras
Marble, Bronze, Ormolu
Antique 19th Century French Napoleon III Mantel Clocks
Bronze, Enamel
A Close Look at napoleon-iii Furniture
Under Napoleon III’s rule, Paris underwent a great rebuilding overseen by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, which created grand avenues and lavish landmarks like the Paris Opera. Antique Napoleon III–style furniture was flamboyant and eclectic. It was also known as Second Empire style since it followed and referenced the Empire style of his uncle Napoleon I.
Developing from 1852–70, Napoleon III furniture was plush and ornate, matching the fashion for masked balls and socializing in salons. It borrowed freely from earlier French styles including Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI as well as aesthetics from around the world, from antiquity to Asian art. As writer Gustave Claudin remarked in 1867, the country’s architects worked in “a style which one would be tempted to call neo-Greco-Gothico-Pompadour-Pompeian.”
Napoleon III chairs were completely covered with velvet and lined with tassels; pouf footstools invited people to put up their feet. Sofas were upholstered with tapestries, and beds were adorned with gilt bronze and theatrical canopies. The addition of conservatories to homes led to new indoor-outdoor furniture, while the spirit of hygiene promoted by Baron Haussmann inspired bright, floral motifs.
Although the most ostentatious designs were for the elite, as seen in the Napoleon III apartments preserved in the Louvre, where red velvet, gilding and chandeliers create a cacophony of luxury, these trends influenced homes across classes as manufacturing made design increasingly accessible. Papier-mâché furniture allowed for elaborate shapes that would have been difficult to carve in wood. The malleable material was painted with chinoiserie patterns and decorative designs. It was mass-produced by factories such as Jennens and Bettridge with varnishing and mother-of-pearl inlays creating an effect reminiscent of Asian lacquer. (Surfaces that had been “japanned” — a specialty of Jennens and Bettridge — were intended to resemble lacquer work that was created in East Asia.)
Find a collection of antique Napoleon III decorative objects, tables, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.