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Marta Harper

Large 19th Century French Gilt Bronze Figural Mantel Clock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
wearing a toga sitting amidst broken columns as she is looking up while holding an angel harp. Circa
Category

Antique Late 19th Century French Napoleon III Mantel Clocks

Materials

Bronze

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Allegorical Sevres Bisque Porcelain Figural Clock Titled La Larcin De La Rose
By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A fine example of sevres biscuit porcelain showing an allegorical group of three classically draped young figures, two embracing; all standing beside the clock case which is surmount...
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Antique Mid-19th Century French Neoclassical Mantel Clocks

Materials

Porcelain

Tapestry Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period 1738 at the Gobelins
By Aubusson Manufacture
Located in Madrid, ES
Tapestry from the Royal Manufacture of Aubusson, Louis XVI period , made in 1738 at the Gobelins One panel from a series of Gobelins tapestries depicting the Hi...
Category

Antique Early 18th Century French Baroque Western European Rugs

Materials

Silk, Wool

Antique Malachite, Gilt and Patinated Spelter Mantel Clock
Located in London, GB
This beautiful clock was crafted in France in the late 19th century. The clock is a monument to this period of industrialisation and technological innovation, being decorated with an...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Mantel Clocks

Materials

Malachite, Spelter

18th century oil sketches for a Baroque interior - a pair
Located in London, GB
A FEAST OF THE GODS WITH VENUS AND BACCHUS Collections: With Appleby Brothers, London, June 1957; Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1961; John and Eileen Harris, acquired from the abo...
Category

Early 18th Century Baroque Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Pair of Wedgwood Borghese Covered Vases, circa 1840
Located in New York, NY
With neoclassical decoration. Impressed Wedgwood.
Category

Antique 1840s English Vases

Materials

Porcelain

Exquisite Napoleon III French Ormolu Figural Basket Centerpiece, Circa 1880
By Alfred Emmanuel Louis Beurdeley
Located in New York, NY
An exquisite Napoleon III French ormolu figural basket centerpiece, Circa 1880, Attributed to Alfred Emmanuel Louis Beurdeley. Depicting four mercury-gilded bronze ormolu cherubs ...
Category

Antique 19th Century French Napoleon III Centerpieces

Materials

Ormolu

Palatial Louis XV Style 19th Century Gilt Bronze-Mounted Chinoiserie Commode
By Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An extraordinary fine and Palatial French Louis XV style 19th century ebonized lacquered Chinoiserie style and finely chased gilt bronze-mounted two drawer Serpentine commode with ma...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XV Commodes and Chests of Drawers

Materials

Marble, Bronze

A KPM Hand-Painted Porcelain Plaque of a Japonism Beauty, Signed Wagner
By KPM Porcelain, Wagner
Located in New York, NY
A Gorgeous 19th Century KPM Hand-Painted Porcelain Plaque of a Japonism Beauty, Signed by the Artist Wagner Wien .n C. Kiesel. The beauty is seen in a beautiful orange and white kimo...
Category

Antique 19th Century German Japonisme Paintings

Materials

Porcelain

A French Antique Empire Gilt Bronze Silk Thread Mantel Clock, Circa 1820
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A French Antique Empire Gilt Bronze Silk Thread Mantel Clock The neoclassical theme with a lady and a mandolin.The clock retains its original blued steel Breguet style hands. The ...
Category

Antique 1820s French Empire Mantel Clocks

Materials

Bronze

Directoire Gilt and Patinated Bronze Mantel Clock
Located in Kittery Point, ME
The oval base raised on toupie feet, centered with a panel of hunting dogs with hunting trophies on each side, the case supported by a landscaped scenery of water and rocks and surmo...
Category

Antique Late 18th Century French Directoire Mantel Clocks

Materials

Bronze

Antique Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock by Sevin and Barbedienne
By Ferdinand Barbedienne, Louis-Constant Sevin
Located in London, GB
This ormolu clock is an exemplary work by the famous French 19th century metalworker and foundry-owner, Ferdiand Barbedienne. Working with a design made by the acclaimed onamentalist...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century French Neoclassical Mantel Clocks

Materials

Ormolu, Bronze

Pair of Meissen Schneeballen and Intricately Ormolu-Mounted Potpourri Vases
By Meissen Porcelain
Located in New York, NY
A very unusual and rare pair of Meissen Schneeballen and intricately ormolu mounted potpourri vases with covers. The vases are supported by finely detailed dragons with accompanying ...
Category

Antique 19th Century German Rococo Porcelain

Materials

Ormolu

French Ormolu Mantel Clock by Victor Paillard
By Victor Paillard
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A superb 19th century French gilt bronze figural mantel clock by Victor Paillard (1805-1886). The urn-shaped case with pomegranate finial, flanked by classical allegorical figures. ...
Category

Antique 19th Century French Clocks

Materials

Ormolu

Antique Neoclassical Style Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock
Located in London, GB
This mantel clock is a wonderful piece of French Neoclassical design. It is an unusual and very beautiful item, which has been expertly crafted from gilt bronze (ormolu). The clock w...
Category

Antique 19th Century French Neoclassical Mantel Clocks

Materials

Enamel, Ormolu, Bronze

Rare 19th Century Ormolu Elephant Clock in the Louis XV Style
Located in London, GB
An important mantle Clock 'à l'éléphant' in the Louis XV style. Constructed from gilt, hand-chased, and burnished bronze with patinated detail, the mantle clock on an asymmetric...
Category

Antique 19th Century French Louis XV Mantel Clocks

Materials

Bronze, Ormolu

19th Century Grand Tour' Giltwood and Micromosaic Centre Table with Roman Scenes
Located in London, GB
A Grand Tour Centre Table The Top Attributed to Cesare Roccheggiani The carved gilt wood base in the manner of George Smith having four monopedia supports, each depicting leopards h...
Category

Antique 19th Century Italian Grand Tour Center Tables

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Malachite

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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.

Finding the Right Mantel-clocks for You

Personal time-telling devices may have migrated from our pockets to our wrists and finally onto our phones, but despite the convenience of a handheld digital timekeeper, nothing can beat well-made vintage, new and antique mantel clocks.

Invented by clockmakers in France and popularized in the 18th and 19th centuries, these practical yet ornate pieces were typically displayed on top of fireplaces or desks. While the most common mantel clocks were created in the traditional tambour style, which features a wide base that flares into an upright drum- or camelback-shaped case, modern clockmakers and furniture designers have experimented with their own ideas for these decorative objects over the years, introducing different forms and working with unconventional materials. A collection of whimsical, monochromatic handmade mantel clocks crafted by Dutch designer Kiki van Eijk, called Floating Frames, for example, features minimalist frames of anodized wire and ceramic clockfaces.

When shopping for an antique, vintage or new mantel clock, don’t be afraid to branch out. Wood mantel clocks of any era will bring a classic, elegant allure to the shelving in your living room or the bookcase in your bedroom, while Empire-style mantel clocks will comparatively boast eye-catching gilt bronze and pronounced sculptural attributes. Some Art Deco mantel clocks will feature an integration of marble or glass and will likely be marked by the decorative embellishments associated with that particular furniture style.

There’s just something about cool clocks, right? Spend your time with an extraordinary collection of mantel clocks on 1stDibs today.