Napoleon III Lighting
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 Lighting
Ormolu
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Opaline Glass
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Brass
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Brass
Early 20th Century French Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1860s European Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Malachite, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Metal, Brass, Bronze
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Steel, Zinc
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Giltwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1940s French Vintage Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Brass
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Brass, Steel
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Iron
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1870s European Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Porcelain, Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Metal, Iron
Early 20th Century French Napoleon III Lighting
Brass
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Porcelain
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Metal
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Marble, Bronze, Gold Leaf
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze, Nickel
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Marble, Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
20th Century French Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Ormolu, Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Onyx, Bronze, Enamel
1880s European Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Brass
1860s European Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Bronze
Early 20th Century American Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Metal, Wire
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze, Gold
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Crystal, Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Brass
1880s European Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Tin
1880s Chinese Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze
1880s European Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Porcelain
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Lighting
Bronze