Napoleon III Furniture
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.
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Gold, Enamel, Sterling Silver, Gold Plate
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel, Gold
1960s European Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Marble, Brass
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Walnut, Ebony, Fruitwood, Olive
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel, Gold
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Gold, Gold Plate, Sterling Silver, Enamel
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Upholstery, Walnut
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Gold Leaf
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Fabric
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Ormolu, Brass
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century British Napoleon III Furniture
Sterling Silver
1920s English Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
1930s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Marble, Brass
20th Century English Napoleon III Furniture
Sterling Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Sterling Silver
1950s Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Bamboo, Rattan
Mid-19th Century English Antique Napoleon III Furniture
Sterling Silver
1930s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Marble, Brass
1930s English Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Sterling Silver, Enamel
Mid-18th Century Dutch Antique Napoleon III Furniture
Brass
1930s Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Plaster
1960s Unknown Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Brass
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Brass
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Bronze
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Iron
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Furniture
Bronze