Napoleon III Tables
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.
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Brass, Iron
20th Century French Napoleon III Tables
Wrought Iron
1660s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Ormolu
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Belgian Black Marble, Wrought Iron
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Brass, Ormolu
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Tables
Olive, Walnut
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Tôle
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Walnut
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Bronze
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Walnut
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Oak
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Velvet, Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Oak
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Walnut
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Lacquer
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Kingwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Wrought Iron
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Brass
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Sycamore
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wrought Iron
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Iron
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Bronze
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Onyx, Ormolu
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Mahogany
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Walnut
1870s Dutch Antique Napoleon III Tables
Oak
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Amboyna
19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Tables
Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Bronze
Late 19th Century Belgian Antique Napoleon III Tables
Wrought Iron
Mid-19th Century German Antique Napoleon III Tables
Gold Plate
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Metal, Brass, Bronze
1870s European Antique Napoleon III Tables
Mother-of-Pearl, Pearwood
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Brass
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Fruitwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Abalone, Mother-of-Pearl, Wood, Paint
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Porcelain, Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Tôle
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Napoleon III Tables
Marble
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Marble, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Iron
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Tables
Onyx, Brass, Bronze