Napoleon III Mirrors
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.
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Bronze, Enamel
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Pine, Mirror, Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Gold Leaf
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Bronze
Mid-20th Century French Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Bronze
1980s Vintage Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Paint
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Iron
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Brass
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Wood, Giltwood, Mirror
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Stucco
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Gold Leaf
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood, Paint
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Faux Bamboo
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Wood
Mid-19th Century Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Glass, Mirror, Wood, Paint
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Silver Leaf
18th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Gesso, Wood, Giltwood, Paint
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Paint
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
1860s Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
20th Century Italian Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Wood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Wood, Oak
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood, Mirror, Stucco
Mid-20th Century Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
1850s Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Wood
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Gold Leaf
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Glass, Wood, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Copper
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Giltwood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Wood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Pine
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Pine
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Wood
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Wood, Walnut
19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Glass
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Glass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Mirrors
Marble, Ormolu