Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
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.
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Cotton, Upholstery, Walnut
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Foam, Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Walnut
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Rattan
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Metal
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Velvet, Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Walnut, Alligator, Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Cotton, Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Cotton, Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Metal
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1990s Swedish Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Wicker, Rattan
Mid-20th Century French Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Elm
Mid-20th Century Italian Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
2010s Mexican Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Steel
1990s American Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Brass
2010s British Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Alpaca, Beech, Oak
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Rattan
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Beech
2010s British Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Alpaca, Beech, Oak
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
2010s British Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Alpaca, Beech, Oak
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
Early 20th Century French Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Leather
1980s Vintage Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Metal
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Leather, Cane, Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Linen, Wood
1950s French Vintage Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Bouclé, Upholstery, Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Linen, Wood, Ebony
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Linen, Wood
Late 20th Century Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Sheepskin
1870s Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Mahogany
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lounge Chairs
Wood