Empire Furniture

France, c. 1820 An early 19th century Empire mahogany commode with finely chased ormolu mounts, retaining the original marble top. Height 88.50cm Width 130.00cm Depth 57.00cm

A beautiful French Empire style gueridon table from 19th century. Beautiful black fossil marble over a mahogany body. A simple apron showcases the deep toned wood. Three columnar leg...

Pair of Swedish empire armchairs with a frame in mahogany made around 1830 to 1840. The chairs have decorative elements in brass, glided Egyptianized sphinx heads in the armrests and...

Beautiful, important pair of hand-painted Parisian porcelain Medici vases. They feature elegant neoclassical motifs on the bodies: swans with outstretched wings and panoplies. The to...

Sorrento round side table hand-made in Italy in the early 1800s using walnut. The table follows the canons of the style with intricate geometrical radially symmetrical inlay on the ...

We present you an antique piece of furniture covered with mahogany veneer with beautiful grain. It is topped with a green marble board. The whole is dated the turn of the 18th and th...

Early 19th Century Pair of Empire Dolphins' Heads Fauteuils, Manner of Bellange A pair of Empire walnut fauteuils or armchairs 'aux Dauphine'' (with dolphins' heads) in the manner o...

A large and impressive pair of Empire style gilt-bronze and burr, Amboyna Mirrors, By Maison Krieger. Each mirror is over 328 cm high (129 inches) and ...

Antique Empire-Style Brass Chandelier with Frosted Glass Shade, Early 20th Century Exquisite antique chandelier crafted in the Empire style, featuring an ornate brass frame with gra...

Impressive Pair of Empire Candle Sconce Wall Mirrors featuring carved harps as well as trompets. These wall mounted candle holders make a great addition to any living room, bedroom, ...

This table can be used as tea table, side table, lamp table it has multiple uses. The top is manufactured in scagliola art inlay, same technique of the "Paliotto" of the 16th century...

A pair of Gilded French Empire Candlesticks with charming decor from the 1820s. Beautiful decorated with flowers and other period empire decorations. Wear consistent with age and use

Tall 19th century French empire bronze ormolu lamp, circa 1860. Here we have a lamp of the finest quality, previously would have been a gas lamp but converted to electricity in the ...

This impressive Empire style secretary from the year 1820 is a true masterpiece of craftsmanship and aesthetic beauty. Hand-polished mahogany wo...

France, 20th century A pair of mid twentieth century Empire style circular gueridon, the black marble tops with polished brass rims, all supported on tripod bronze bases with cross...

Rectangular table box with inward corners in gold-plated 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent enamel fired on guilloche and a fine round miniature in the centre, diameter cm. 4....

Magnificent "Maria Theresa" (or Maria Teresa) Empire style traditional crystal chandelier features 24 lights and framework with a golden iron, with glass encased arms and rosettes. ...

A beautiful and rare pair of gilt bronze Empire Appliques. Made in France during the 1820s. Some wear on the gilding exists, but also carries a beutif...

Empire Style Crystal Vase from 1900s This striking Classic Empire-style vase from ca. the middle of the 20th century showcases exceptional craftsmanship in high-quality crystal. The...

Antica pendola francese rappresentante l'allegoria dell'Astronomia con cassa in bronzo dorato e globo celeste blu. Various elements recall the theme of astronomy: seated intent on st...

A pair of European Mid-19th Century bronze-gilt candelabras. For two candles each. Very nice original condition.

Two Royal Copenhagen Blue Fluted Plain candlesticks with lion heads. Dated 1969-1974. Model number 1/15. Measures: 23 x 8 cm. In excellent ...

This beautiful Empire period shield headboard, dating to around 1810, is a masterpiece of craftsmanship made entirely of cherry wood. The gilded and carved wood finishes give a touch...

Rectangular frame in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with two-tone enamel stripes on guilloché and fine hand engravings French Empire style. With 2 oval photo holders, internal ...

Pair of beautiful brass wall lights with crystal glass beads. Manufactured in the 1960s in Europe, Spain. The lights are in the  shape of a peacock. With crystal beads between the b...

A superb late 18th century French Provincial walnut dresser demonstrating a three shelf plate rack with an elegant canopy displaying carved acorn like finials. The base features unique Empire style columns flanking the two-door cupboard. Displaying three drawers, with the central drawer housing its original lock and old replacement key. Raised on block feet united by a shaped apron. This dresser displays a rich patination and warm grain throughout. Previously purchased...

Antique French Empire watch holder, early 19th century circa 1820. The watch holder allows conversion of an open faced pocket watch in to a desk cl...

Beautiful pair of Empire Candlesticks in gilt and dark patinated bronze. Made in France during the 1820s. Very period design. Wear consistent with age and use

Important bowl for caviar by Gianmaria Buccellati. The body was made in two parts, cup and base. The welded edge with small leaves characterizes the Classic Empire style. A wire circ...

Anonymous 19th century; European Gilt bronze and metal Approximate size: 17.75 (h) x 9.75 (w) x 3.5 (d) inches The present pair of distinctive antique gilt metal candlesticks are i...

Elegant 19th-century wall-mounted library crafted from solid mahogany and mahogany veneer, beautifully executed in the Neoclassical style. This high-quality piece consists of multipl...

A large very well cast and gilt bronze chandelier or plafonnier from the late 19th to early 20th century. The large acanthus leafed ceiling rose suspending five rope twist bars, whic...

19th Century fall front desk from Kalix, North of Sweden. The overhanging rectangular top abowe a drop down writing surface enclosing a fitted interior with drawers and a central cu...

Empire bronze and glass chandelier with beliers.

A stunning pair of antique French ceramic and gilt metal table lamps. They were made in France, they date from around the 1950’s. They are of superb quality and are an impressive si...

A Highly Important Empire Period Rosso Antico Chimneypiece Inset with Specimen Marble Portrait Reliefs of Roman Emperors The carved and veneered surround comprising a moulded shelf supported by a bold dentil cornice, above an inverted breakfront frieze carved with a central triglyph panel, flanked by a pair of rosettes carved in shallow relief, the frieze mounted with six carved hardstone profile portrait medallions of Roman Emperors, the stop-fluted jambs raised on moulded footblocks; in excellent condition with small restorations commensurate with age and use; the pale inclusions in the stone naturally formed. This spectacular neoclassical marble chimneypiece is carved from Rosso antico, the frieze inset with six portrait reliefs of Roman Emperors, each carved in marmo giallo on a bardiglio background, five variously incised: VESPASIANUS, TIBERIVS, OTHO, JULIUS CAESAR, TITUS. Rosso antico (marmor taenarium) is first recorded as being quarried in 1700 BC at Akra Tainaron (Cape Matapan), Greece.¹ The majority of this stone, however, was extracted throughout the Roman period, when it was one of the most coveted materials for carving due to its rich red colouring and association with highly prized Egyptian ‘Imperial’ Porphyry.² Rosso antico was chosen in antiquity for portrait busts, notably depicting Bacchic subjects such as Dionysus and satyrs due to its rich red wine colour which symbolised conviviality whilst conveying the education and cultivated taste of the owner.³ In the Renaissance, Rosso antico was also used for architectural detail on important buildings, such as the steps leading up to the choir in the medieval church of S. Prassede, and the large columns at the entrance to the Camera dell'Aurora.⁴ In 121 AD, G. Suetonius Tranquillus, secretary to Emperor Hadrian, wrote a biographical history of the first twelve emperors of Rome entitled De vita Caesarum (The Twelve Caesars). A Renaissance edition of Tranquillus’ work was published in 1470, followed by further reprints and translations into all the main European languages. Many of these were illustrated with prints of emperors taken from coins and statues, or imagined by the artist based on Tranquillus’ accounts. These interpretations were copied, in turn, by Renaissance designers for medals, Limoges enamels, and busts, as well as paintings such as the Eleven Caesars, a series of eleven half-length portraits of Roman emperors made by Titian in 1536–40 for Federico II, Duke of Mantua.⁵ These paintings were later given to King Charles I, before being passed in the Commonwealth to the Kings of Spain. Unfortunately, the series was destroyed in the catastrophic fire of 1734 at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, and is now only known through copies and engravings.⁶ From the middle of the 17th century until the end of the 18th century, there was an insatiable demand for marble carvings, often sold as Roman or assembled from ancient fragments, thus perpetuating the reverence for antiquity that was the quintessence of the Grand Tour. Rosso antico was in extremely short supply, even after the ancient quarries at Skutari were rediscovered in 1830, and remained one of the most highly valued of all stones. Described in 1776 as ‘dark red; scarce and dear’, it was mostly used for small objects such as Grand Tour desk ornaments, inevitably using material re-cut from classical fragments, due to its rarity, as was the case with porphyry.⁷ The portrait roundels on this chimneypiece are typical of those produced in Rome and Florence in hardstones, semi-precious stones, gold, silver, bronze, and mother-of-pearl, which, being easily transportable, would be taken home from the Grand Tour to be mounted within wooden, gilded or brass frames, as fashion dictated.⁸ A group of gold portraits of Caesars, dating from around 1660, are in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence. Images of Roman emperors were not limited to Italy, England and France, however, as examples executed in Deshima for the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) show. Medallions depicting Roman emperors, invariably made of black and gold Japanese hiramakie or takamakie lacquer on copper, were produced for the Dutch market at the end of the 18th century. Examples can be found in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.⁹ There are two possible sources for the Imperial profiles on the chimneypiece: the engravings of The Twelve Caesars by Marcantonio Raimondi, or the Imperatorum Imagines by Hubert Golz.¹⁰ The portrait medallions also bear remarkable resemblance to a set of eighteen carved portrait reliefs of Roman Emperors, also of marmo giallo, almost certainly bought by David Ker (1742–1811) of Portavo, Co. Down, on his Grand Tour between 1792–4 in either Florence or Rome. Ker’s diary entry for 17th October 1793 is interesting as it reveals that he was offering his brother a choice of chimneypiece designs, which further supports a Roman origin for the offered example.¹¹ Indeed, fire surrounds incorporating antique fragments had been promoted from the late 1760s by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78), encouraged by Rome-trained architects including Robert Adam (d.1792). One such example, inset with mythological tablets carved from Rosso antico, was acquired by the 9th Earl of Exeter from Piranesi himself for Burghley House.¹² Another can be found at Islington House, Dorset.¹³ A third, inset with giallo antico and Rosso antico, follows Piranesi’s engraved design dated 1769 for a fire surround mounted with three marble portrait reliefs.¹⁴ It should be re-emphasised that Rosso antico was so precious that it was only ever used for small tablets or details rather than an entire chimneypiece, as with the offered example; likewise, while portrait reliefs are occasionally seen on the jambs of Italian surrounds, it is exceptionally rare to see the frieze mounted with a group, especially of this scale: the combination indicates an architectural commission by an extremely wealthy patron. The sophisticated lines of this chimneypiece epitomise the French Empire influence on the Italian states at the turn of the 18th century. This idiosyncratic ‘Roman’ taste is encapsulated by that of Napoleon, who identified with Rome’s Imperial past. Napoleon’s desire to establish a visual link between himself and Roman emperors is demonstrated by the portraits of his court painter, Jacques-Louis David, inspired by portraits of Emperor Augustus. This Imperial taste extended to architecture, furniture and porcelain, the latter two of which are combined in a group of magnificent ormolu-mounted guéridons commissioned in Sèvres between 1803–11, made to immortalise Napoleon’s reign.¹⁵ The second guéridon in the series, the Table des Grands Capitaines (Table of the Great Commanders of Antiquity), commissioned in 1806, is made almost entirely of hard-paste Sèvres porcelain. The top, painted in imitation of sardonyx, is centred by a portrait cameo of Alexander the Great, surrounded by twelve smaller heads of commanders and philosophers from antiquity: Pericles, Scipio Africanus, Pompey, Augustus, Septimus Severus, Constantine, Trajan, Caesar, Mithridates, Hannibal, Themistocles and Miltiades.¹⁶ Louis XVIII presented the table to the Prince Regent (later King George IV) in 1817 as a token of appreciation for Napoleon’s defeat two years earlier, and George IV treasured it so highly that it became part of the ceremonial backdrop for all his state portraits. The table remains in the Royal Collection.¹⁷ This chimneypiece remained, until recently, in the possession of a noble Dutch family, who acquired it from the owners of a bombed Knightsbridge house in the 1940s; unfortunately, its provenance prior to this has been lost. The use of Rosso antico on this scale, inset with these splendid Imperial profile medallions, appears unparalleled. 1. J. B. Grossman, 'Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone' (Los Angeles, 2003). Grossman states that this material was ‘...quarried in three places during antiquity: on Cape Tainaron present day Matapan on the Peloponnese of Greece; on Crete; and at the site of Iasos in Asia Minor. 2. L. Lazzarini, ‘Rosso antico and other red marbles used in antiquity: a characterization study’, Marble, Art Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Ancient Sculpture’ (1990), 237–252. C. Gorgoni, L. Lazzarini, P. Pallante, ‘New archaeometric data on Rosso antico and other red marbles used in antiquity, ASMOSIA VI, Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone’ (2002), pp. 199–206. J. Deér, trans. G.A. Gilhoff, The Dynastic Porphyry Tombs of the Norman Period in Sicily (Cambridge, 1959), p. 144. R. Gnoli, Marmora Romana (Rome, 1988), pp. 187–191. 3. A notable example is a satyr from the Emperor Hadrian's villa at Tivoli, now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome. Another is the head of a satyr in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, accession no. 2006.110. See T. Opper, Hadrian. Empire and Conflict (London, 2008), p. 165, fig. 149. 4. De Luca, Marmi antichi (Rome, 1998), p. 126. Faustino Corsi, Catalogo ragionato d’una collezione di pietre di decorazione (Rome, 1833), p. 93. 5. For related Limoges medallions, see set of ten circular Limoges enamel medallions depicting Roman emperors, en grisaille with gilding, from the workshop of Jacques I Laudin, sold Christie’s London, Fine Renaissance Bronzes and Works of Art, 19 December, 1977, lot 95. 6. See set of drawings sold Sotheby’s London, Of Royal and Noble Descent, 24 February, 2015, lot 184. 7. J. J. Ferber, Raspe’s Travels through Italy in the Years 1771–1772 (London, 1776), p. 218. 8. See Sotheby’s London, Pelham, the Public and the Private, 8 March 2016, lot 75: ‘A set of twelve mother-of-pearl cameos of Roman Emperors, Southern Italian, early 19th century’ 9. Oliver Impey, Christiaan J.A. Jörg, Cynthia Viallé, Japanese Export Lacquer 1580–1850 (Amsterdam, 2005) pp. 48–57, no. 56 & 57. 10. For a further reference, see the candlesticks by Jacques I Laudin in the Waters Art Gallery, illustrated in P. Verdier, Catalogue of the Painted Enamels of the Renaissance (Baltimore, 1967), p. 389, nos. 207 & 208. 11. John Ingamells, A Dictionary of British and Irish travellers in Italy 1701–1800 (London, 1997), pp. 572–3. 12. Oliver Impey, Four Centuries of Decorative Arts from Burghley House (Virginia, 1998), p. 53, fig. 23. 13. Country Life, 12 June, 1997, p. 162, figs. 9–11. 14. A. González-Palacios, Il Tempio del Gusto, Roma e il Regno delle due Sicilie, Vol. II (Milan, 1984), pp. 592–93, p. 260. 15. S. Grandjean, 'Napoleonic Tables...

Elegant vintage French bronze and brass Empire style Bouillotte table lamp with a metal shade. Measures: Height 20.5" in. (52 cm), diameter 15" in. (38 cm). Lighting: takes one l...

An Extremely Elegant Early 19th Century, French Empire Period, Mahogany Tricoteuse Type Occasional Table, Having Extremely Well Figured Rectangular Galleried Top, Over One Drawer To ...

Octagonal table box in 800/1000 silver gold plated with translucent enamel on guilloché and beautiful enamel miniature hand painted by the painter Renato Dainelli in early 1900s Engl...

Gilt Porcelaine de Paris Openwork Coupe Centerpiece to be placed centrally on the table, for fruit or flowers. Empire Style. French, 19th century center basket, rond form with reticu...

Very nice pair of French Empire style gold-plated, patinated and burnished bronze and brass candlesticks. Each candlestick features finely engraved decors and is raised on a round or...

A Beautiful French 19th Century Marble & Mahogany Gueridon Pedestal Table With Turned Wood Column Over a Tripod Base Terminating With Brass Paw Feet. Would make for an excellent hal...

XIX Century Empire Commode 19th CENTURY EMPIRE CHEST. LARGE FRENCH EMPIRE CHEST IN MAHOGANY AND DECORATED WITH GOLDEN BRONZE.130X59X89 CM

Fine neoclassical Empire or early Biedermeier Secretaire / Drop Front Desk from Vienna, Austria around 1810-15. Ebonized veneer on oak. Classicist gable cornice with surrounding gol...

Gorgeous pair of French Empire style side tables Feature a lacquer finish and hand painted floral motifs Very colourful interiors pair with original gilt fixtures Good size to these ...

20th Century Empire style painted and gilded stool. Circa 1940.

Beautiful oil on canvas depicting a country picnic scene, animated by characters frolicking under a tree Beautiful scene, beautiful quality of painting, unfortunately not signed We...

A Fine Pair of Italian Giltwood and Toleware Wall Sconces from the Early 20th Century in the Empire Style. The sconces are adorned with delicate ...

This item is definitely a true masterpiece: yellow double bedwith empire-style decorations, pleated head and footboard with high-end customizable fabrics. Designed and produced by M...

Pair of bouillotte lamps in toleware and bronze, in the French Empire manner.

A pair of huge Giltwood carved torchiere wall lights with opaque glass flame shades. Converted for electric, finished very well with bronze mounted shade holders. The large torchiere...

19th century, French chiselled and gilt bronze table clock This table clock was made of chiselled and gilded bronze in the early 19th centur...

Small egg in 925/1000 sterling silver gold plated with translucent fired enamel on guilloché, Russian Empire style inspired by the eggs of Carl Fabergé, late 19th century, early 20th...

Large Empire-style alabaster and bronze chandelier, Germany, ca. 1920. An impressive sixteen-light alabaster and bronze chandelier. The extra large, exceptional, and masterfully carv...

Early 20th century French Empire style roll-top desk French, Early 20th Century Height 113cm, width 84cm, depth 62cm This charming roll-top desk is crafted from ormolu mounted hardw...

An Empire style large bronze urn vase wired as table lamp with an oval red lampshade. An Italian circular handled decorative bronze center vase, the so-c...

Elegant Empire gilded bronze finely chiseled Bouillotte lamps with dark green painted tole adjustable shade. Two E 14 light bulbs. We can deliver wired for US standard.    

Solid brass or brass wall lamp Empire style with two arms. This wall sconces Empire style white rigid appearance, solid and basic geometric shapes. Decorated with acanthus leaves ...