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.
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Lapis Lazuli, Marble, Brass, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mahogany
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Oak
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Carrara Marble, Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
20th Century European Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
1870s 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
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
Early 1800s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass, Bronze
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Glass, Mahogany
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Carrara Marble, 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
Oak
1860s Italian Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble
1910s French Vintage Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Mahogany
Early 19th Century Unknown Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ebony
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Rosewood
Early 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze, Ormolu
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Walnut
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
19th Century Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Ormolu
1890s English Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
1950s French Vintage Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Carrara Marble, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze, Brass
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Birdseye Maple, Boxwood, Ebony, Sycamore
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass, Bronze
Early 1800s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Stone, Marble, Bronze
1860s Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
Early 20th Century French Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Multi-gemstone, Marble, Ormolu
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Bentwood
20th Century French Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Walnut
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Walnut
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Rosewood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Leather, Boxwood, Rosewood
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Marble, Bronze
1860s Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Satinwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
Brass