Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
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.
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze, Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass, Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mahogany
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass, Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ormolu
Early 19th Century Unknown Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ebony
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mahogany
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mahogany
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Iron
Early 1900s Danish Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ormolu, Brass, Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mahogany
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
1870s European Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Multi-gemstone, Marble, Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mahogany
19th Century Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ormolu
1890s Norwegian Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Walnut
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Lapis Lazuli, Belgian Black Marble, Brass, Ormolu, Pewter
1860s Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
15th Century and Earlier French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wool
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Stone, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ormolu
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Oak
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Brass, Bronze
19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
1880s Italian Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Breccia Marble, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Metal, Brass, Bronze, Ormolu
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Rosewood
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ormolu
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Lapis Lazuli, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
1950s French Vintage Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Carrara Marble, Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Carrara Marble, Brass, Bronze
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mirror, Oak
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ebony
19th Century German Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze