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 Burl Elm Inlaid Jewelry Box with Drawer & Inside Mirror
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate a coffee table or a shelf with this elegant antique box. Created in France circa 1880, the rectangular cabinet is decorated with an elegant floral inlaid star motif on the t...
Mercury Glass, Elm, Burl
Table Cigarette Box hand painted in tempera on a vegetable ivory Salimbeni.
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Square table box for cigarettes in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guilloché also on the sides. In the center beautiful miniature hand painted i...
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Table Box transparent brown fired enamel over hand-engraved wood grain Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rectangular table box in gold-plated 925/1000 sterling silver with fine hand-engraved ornaments in late Napoleon III Empire style and transparent brown fired enamel over hand-engrave...
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
Table Box Sterling Silver Paillons in Pure Gold and Miniature Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Oval table box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with fired enamel, with “paillons” in pure gold on the upper circle, fine miniature fired enamelled with an image of “fox hunti...
Gold, Enamel, Sterling Silver, Gold Plate
Snuff box Two-Tone Striped Fired Enamel Sterling Silver Salimbeni
By Franco Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rectangular snuff box in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent two-tone striped fired enamel on guillochè and hand-engraved ornament. Late Empire Napoleon III style. ...
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Burlwood & Hand Painted French Napolean III Style Cigar Humidor
Located in Incline Village, NV
Beautiful condition and highly attractive mid 20th century French Napolean III style burlwood and hand painted humidor for cigars or possibly tea leaves. Shaped in a square with a ro...
Burl
Antique French Napoleonic Style Bronze Box with Sévres Attr. Inset plaque
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
Dimensions - H: 4 1/2 in W: 6 3/4 in D: 4 1/2 in This exquisite Antique French Napoleonic Style bronze box captures the imperial grandeur and refined craftsmanship associated with ...
Bronze
$899Sale Price|49% Off
19th Century French Walnut and Brass Writing Boxe
Located in LEGNY, FR
Beautiful walnut desktop box which opens into a writing slope. Decorated on the outside with 2 decorative inlaid tunbridge ware bands. Box opens out to a beige fabric writing slo...
Brass
$12,763Sale Price|25% Off
Covered Vase with Atlantes, attr. to A. Giroux, France, circa 1880
Located in PARIS, FR
Beautiful ovoid-shaped covered vase in patinated bronze with golden highlights, with rich rotating decoration in relief. The lid, symbolizing Night, is decorated with a turtle, a moon, a dragon flying among the clouds ; and the belly, symbolizing the Day, is decorated with a rising sun, mountainous landscapes, and cherry tree branches. The whole, topped with a flamed seed, is supported by three African-type atlantes dressed in a loincloth. Historical and artistic context This work of art combines elements of Japonism and Orientalism, two important movements representative of the taste of the time for exoticism. Indeed, this taste for Chinoiserie was revived at the end of the 19th century following the Franco-English military campaign against the imperial army in China in 1860. Napoleon III’s French troops bring back part of the treasure from the Summer Palace, constituting in 1863 the famous Chinese Museum of Empress Eugénie at the Palace of Fontainebleau. First in painting, the movement quickly spread to decorative arts and furniture. This craze for the Far East is encouraged in France by the diffusion of Chinese ornamental works renewing the interior decoration of the luxurious Parisian residences of a clientele eager for something new. It was also under the Second Empire that the Orientalists were propelled to the forefront. Emperor Napoleon III, aristocrats as well as wealthy bourgeois in search of exoticism fill the order books of the most renowned artists. It is then not the predominantly academic style of the Orientalists that counts but above all the exoticism that they show to a fascinated public. Biography Alphonse Giroux and Company, famous curiosity and luxury goods shop was situated in Paris, at No. 7 rue du Coq-Saint-Honoré and in business from the time of the Consulate until the end of the Second Empire. The company was founded by Francois-Simon-Alphonse and continued in 1838 by his two sons, Alphonse-Gustave (1810-1886) and André (1801-1879). The father became a close associate of the royal family and specialized in the manufacture of refined items for gifts. Kings Louis XVIII and then Charles X were both supplied with gifts for « The Children of France » by Giroux. Making progressively small furniture, they were mentionned for the first time in 1837 in the class « cabinet...
Bronze
Pumpkin-Shaped Candy Box in Opaline, 19th Century, Napoleon III Period.
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Pumpkin-shaped candy box in opaline, 19th century, Napoleon III period. A Napoleon III period candy dish, 19th century, in white opaline, forming a pumpkin. Dimensions : H: 16cm, D...
Opaline Glass
Important Box, Sèvres Porcelain Box, Napoleon III Period
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Important box, Sèvres porcelain box, Napoleon III period. Sèvres porcelain box, jewelry box, decorated with gallant scenes, signed, gilded brass mount, very nice quality, 19th centu...
Brass
$3,314Sale Price|20% Off
19th Century Napoleon III Guillaume Diehl Cigar Boxe
Located in LEGNY, FR
Beautiful Cigar humidor, stamped by Charles Guillaume DIEHL (1811 - 1885), in ebony with inlaid decoration of friezes of scrolls, fleurons and lanceolate leaves, inside with five dra...
Brass
Porcelain Box, Late 19th-Early 20th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Porcelain box, late 19th - early 20th century. Porcelain box from the end of the 19th century or beginning of the 20th century, gilded brass, very nice painted scene with gold decor...
Porcelain
$1,275Sale Price|25% Off
Napoleon III Jewelery Box
Located in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Napoleon III jewelery box Bonce gold and enamel origin France in perfect condition inside it was reupholstered circa 1900. The Napoleon III style had it...
Enamel
$1,600Sale Price|20% Off
Sevres Porcelain Chest Romantic Scene 'Lux'
By Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
Located in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sevres porcelain chest romantic scene (Lux) signed Lux 19th century crica 1900.
Porcelain
Snuffbox basket with flowers, in Florentine Renaissance style, Salimbeni
By Salimbeni, Franco Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rounded rectangular snuffbox in 925/1000 sterling Silver gold plated with beautiful fire enamelled miniature hand-painted by the painter Renato Dainelli of a basket with flowers, in ...
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
$1,040Sale Price|20% Off
Napoleon III card holder
Located in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Napoleon III card holder (card fray) Gilt bronze and enamel Origin France Circa 1900 Gilt bronze and Cloissone enamel with hand-painted Sevres porcelain plate signed by E. Horche Per...
Bronze, Enamel
Napoleon III circular enamel box
Located in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Napoleon III circular enamel box Material bronze and Cloisonne enamel Origin France Circa 1870 19th century Excellent quality and excellent condition Natural wear on its patina Its i...
Bronze, Enamel
Game Box in Wood and Glit Brass, Napoleon III Period
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Game box in lacquered wood marquetry and gilt brass, with tokens inside. Gilding on the extremities of the spiral shape box. Work realized under Napoleon III (1852-1870).
Brass
Correspondence Box Napoleon III
Located in Madrid, ES
Correspondence box, Napoleon III period, composed on the top of two flaps. Their facades are embellished with Square and Rectangle Marquetry. In add...
Wood
French 19th Century Napoleon III Period Ebony, Ormolu, and Brass Box
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A most elegant French 19th century Napoleon III period ebony, ormolu, and brass box. The box is raised by fine ormolu ball feet below a lovely wrap around mottled band. Each ebony si...
Brass, Ormolu
Antique French Napoleon III Rosewood Jewel Box with Silver Inlay Circa 1860-1870
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique French Napoleon III rosewood jewel box with fabulous silver inlay, circa 1860-1870.
Silver
Antique French Decorative Box, Napoleon III Style, Late 19th Century
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
French wooden casket, covered with colored and impressed paper with ancient processing system - Suitable for Your photos hanging around waiting to be fix...
Parchment Paper, Wood
A ceremonial cigar display stand in honor of the Imperial Prince Napoleon IV
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
This exceptional cigar display stand, crafted from mahogany-stained wood, is richly carved and composed of three distinct elements. Taking the form of a ...
Wood, Elm
19th Century French Parquetry Ebonized Domed Box
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Signed by maker on lock. Paris, France. Bronze/brass mounted.
Brass, Bronze
Carlsbad Bohemian Hardstone Inlaid Rosewood and White Metal Casket Box
Located in London, by appointment only
Bohemia, circa 1870. This exceptional 19th century antique casket originates from Carlsbad, a spa town in the west Bohemia region of the Czech Republic. The town is officially known as Karlovy Vary and gained fame as a destination during the 19th century. Its piping hot springs drew tourists from across Europe to 'take the waters' and their health benefits. The highly figured stones used on this exceptional box were locally sourced and are specific to the hot mineral rich springs of Carlsbad. Close inspection will reveal layer on layer of fine mineral...
Agate, Marble