Empire Paintings
EMPIRE STYLE
From 1804–15, Napoléon I reigned as the emperor of France, bringing the country into a new era of opulence after the fall of the monarchy and the tumultuous years of the French Revolution. He declared, “We must have very solid things, made to last 100 years.” Empire-style furniture followed suit, with imposing pieces constructed from mahogany and adorned with gilded ornaments. Expanding on the neoclassicism popularized in the previous century — such as in Louis XVI style — Empire style borrowed from the great civilizations of antiquity, from Egypt to Greece and Rome, to connect this nascent empire to the power of the past.
Napoléon I believed the production of fine furniture would reflect the stature of the republic, with his official architects Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine leading the way with their work on his residences.
Luxurious materials, symmetrical shapes and bold colors characterize antique Empire-style bedroom furniture, armchairs, cabinets and other structures, with frequent motifs including mythological creatures, geometric designs, acanthus leaves, eagles, bees (the imperial emblem) and swans, a favorite of Empress Joséphine.
Flat surfaces, like marble tabletops, were accented with decadent details, such as the bronze furniture mounts made by sculptor Pierre-Philippe Thomire for the French palaces. Martin-Guillaume Biennais, who worked as the imperial goldsmith, crafted intricate luxury objects that mixed wood, fine metal, mother-of-pearl and ivory. Ormolu — or elaborate bronze gilding — was essential to French design in the 18th and 19th centuries as a cornerstone of the neoclassical and Empire styles.
The style became popular abroad, influencing the American Empire style. Stately pieces carved with sprigs of olives by cabinetmaker Pierre-Antoine Bellange were acquired by American President James Monroe for the White House in 1817.
Find a collection of antique Empire tables, lighting, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.
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Style: Empire
EARLY 19th CENTURY PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN IN UNIFORM
Located in Firenze, FI
Splendid oil portrait on canvas of a gentleman in uniform, identified as Professor Moses Bosisio, mayor of Monza, who died in 1846, as reported on a plaque on the back of the paintin...
Category
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Francesco Vinea Portrait of a Young Gentlewoman Painting
By Francesco Vinea 2
Located in Roma, IT
Francesco Vinea portrait of a woman
Portrait of Empire taste
Work by painter Francesco Vinea ( Forli 1845- Florence 1902).
Oil on canvas, depicting a young woman in Empire style in r...
Category
19th Century Italian Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Pair of Danish Early 19th Century Children’s Portraits Oil on Canvas
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Early 19th Century Children’s Portraits Oil on Canvas, A Pair
Charming pair of Danish Early 19th Century paintings oil on canvas. Thes...
Category
Early 19th Century Danish Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Early 19th Century Romantic Seascape With Figures Oil On Panel Supra Porte
Located in Munich, DE
This charming peaceful romantic scene shows a fine summer day in a hilly landscappe near the sea.
The blue sea surrounds a peninsular with a with a fortress on a hill. We see an iso...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Wood
Regency Period Gentlman Painting
Located in Cheltenham, GB
Hutton-Clarke Antiques is delighted to present a captivating artwork from the Regency period, circa 1810. This remarkable painting, executed in oil on canvas, retains its original fr...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Miniature Portrait Painting of Napoleon Signed by Prévost
By Prevost
Located in SAINTE-COLOMBE, FR
Miniature Portrait Painting of Napoleon signed by Prévost from the nineteenth century.
The frame is in solid mahogany and is dished and...
Category
19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Brass
Miniature Portrait of Napoleon on Porcelain, ebonized frame, 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Oil on porcelain in a black wooden frame. Image size: 8 x 6 cm.
Category
19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Wood, Paint, Porcelain
Early 19th Century Portrait of the Marsh Family Twins, by Arrowsmith, circa 1830
Located in Nantucket, MA
Early 19th Century Portrait of the Marsh Family Twins, by Thomas Arrowsmith (English: 1772 - 1834), circa 1830, an oil on canvas group portrait of the celebrated five children of the Marsh family of Boston. The two pair of twin girls and their younger brother became well known on both sides of the Atlantic in their day, because sets of twins were pretty rare, and these children were so ridiculously cute. Apparently the greatest artists of their day were all clamoring to paint their portraits. The Magazine Antiques ran an article on the children and their popularity about 20 years ago.
The short hair cuts sported by the girls are quite striking, and are actually not as odd and rare as many people assume. While longer hair enhanced with ringlets and other curls were very much the popular fashion, a good number of parents did boldly break away with these daring short bobs. Perhaps they were the "bohemians" of their day. The style grew in popularity, even among adults, following the French Revolution: dubbed "Guillotine Haircuts" they declared sympathy for the deposed royals.
In this particular instance, I believe the short hair was chosen because it focused more attention on the beautiful faces, and lessened the variations in height and hair color to make them all look even more alike.
A delightful painting, slightly Romantic School, a touch Folk Art, in excellent condition and signed on the reverse. Thomas Arrowsmith was a highly regarded artist who worked almost entirely in miniature. Such artists who created such amazingly detailed tiny portraits on ivory...
Category
Early 19th Century English Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
20th Century French Oil Painting of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor by S. Chapin
By Chapin
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A vintage French oil on canvas painting of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor in a hand carved original gilded wooden frame, painted by S. Chapin in good condition. The wall décor art pie...
Category
Early 20th Century French Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
Pair of Naïve Allegorical Landscape Paintings Sign, Christian Georg v. Lind
Located in Kastrup, DK
Pair of naïve allegorical landscape paintings.
Oil on canvas
Signed Lieutenant Christian Georg V. Lind, 1837 and 1838.
See text on the back.
In original gilded damgaard frames. ...
Category
Mid-18th Century Danish Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Painting, Oil on Canvas, Portrait of a Man, Empire Period
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
"Painting, oil on canvas, portrait of a man, Empire Period"
Beautiful 19th century portrait of a man, oil on canvas, Empire Period fr...
Category
19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
19th Century Impressionist Oil Painting, Original Frame, Eugene Delacroix, 1830s
By Eugène Delacroix
Located in Berlin, DE
Oil painting (framed)
Artist: Unknown (style of Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863).
Date: 19th century Title: French lieutenant on horseback leading a Bedouin cavalry.
Medium: Oil on...
Category
1830s French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Sampson & Dalilah "At The Gate Of Prison" Colored Copper Engraving
Located in Kastrup, DK
Sampson & Dalilah, At the gate of prison.
Colored copper engraving in contemporary Empire mahogany frame with internal line intarsia, gilt with ...
Category
Early 19th Century English Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Paper
Pair of Naïve Allegorical Landscape Paintings Sign, Christian Georg v. Lind
Located in Kastrup, DK
Pair of naïve allegorical landscape paintings.
Oil on canvas
Signed Lieutenant Christian Georg V. Lind , 1837 and 1838.
See text on the back.
In original gilded Damgaard frames....
Category
Mid-18th Century Danish Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Miniature Portrait of a French Gentleman Dated 1825
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A finely painted oval miniature portrait on porcelain of a wealthy/aristocratic gentleman from the second empire period in France. The portrait is in an...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Porcelain
Early 19th Century French Hand Painted Crest on Metal in Carved Gilt Frame
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate an office or study with this elegant antique wall decor. Crafted in France circa 1830, and set in the original carved gilt frame, the art w...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Sheet Metal
Miniature Portraits of Napoleon II & Imperatrice Marie Louise of Austria
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Pair of hand painted miniature framed portraits of Napoleon II and his mother the Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. Marie Louise was Napoleon's...
Category
Early 1900s European Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Glass, Paint, Wood
Early 19th Century Pair of Reverse Glass Paintings by Lebelle
Located in Paris, FR
Pair of reverse glass paintings in gouache depicting two landscapes. One of them features a castle and a bath scene, the other one animals and various chara...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Giltwood, Paint
French Empire Napoleonic Military Oil on Canvas Painting, Framed
Located in Dallas, TX
A French Empire Napoleonic military oil on canvas painting with a newer ebonized and gilded frame. The still life painting depicts French Nation...
Category
Mid-19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Female Portrait of the Empire Era
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
Elegant portrait of a young girl dating back to the Empire era. The beautiful antique frame is suitable for framing it.
nr. O/6667.
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Mid-Century Still Life Painting on Wood of a Classical Scene with a Horn
Located in New York, NY
Vintage (20th Century) acrylic still life of a brass horn and sword alongside a bird perched on an antler that is spearing sheet music reading, "Le Retour La Chasse -1923."Painted on...
Category
Mid-20th Century Empire Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood
18th Century French Giltwood Framed Oil Painting Portrait of a Woman
Located in New York, NY
French (18th century) oil painting portrait of a woman holding grapes sitting next to a dog in a rectangular carved giltwood frame.
Category
Mid-18th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Giltwood, Paint
18th Century French Oil Painting Portrait of a Woman and Child Holding a Torch
Located in New York, NY
French (18th-19th century) large oil painting portrait of a woman holding flowers and a child bearing a torch in an ornate carved rectangular gilt...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Paint, Giltwood
Beautiful Early 19th Century Portrait
Located in Stockbridge, GA
Beautiful early 19th century portrait dated and signed at the back.
Portrait attributed to Berthon, student of David "The young girl and the c...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
19 Century Italian Clock Landscape Painting
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
An early/mid-19th century Italian clock painting indistinctly signed on the lower right corner. The oil painting is set in a period Empire gilt frame and d...
Category
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
19th Century Capriccio Jeremias August Urlaub Clock Picture Germany
Located in Epfach, DE
Capriccio from Jeremias August Urlaub, born 1784 in Hanau, death 1837 in St.Petersburg belongs to an important franconian painter family.
Original magnificent and special frame, o...
Category
Early 19th Century German Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
Pair of Wall Decoration 'En Grisaille' by Dufour, Paris, France, 19th Century
Located in Rome, IT
A fine pair of Papiers peints 'En Grisaille' from the psyche´ series manufactured by Dufour, Paris, after designs by Merry-Joseph Blondel and Louis Lafitte.
-'Psyche´ about to stab ...
Category
19th Century European Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Paper
Early 19th Century Empire French Hand Painted Wall Canvas Signed Louis A. David
Located in Dallas, TX
This monumental antique painted canvas titled "Le Cercle de Jeux" was created in France, circa 1810; the art work depicts a gambling scene in a very cozy game room. The scene features eighteen men dressed in authentic Empire clothing and playing cards game around three different tables. The canvas is signed on the bottom right Louis Alphonse David. The large wall decoration...
Category
19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
French Empire Portrait of Boy, circa 1810
Located in Doylestown, PA
A fine, lifesize oil-on-canvas portrait of a young boy dressed in period attire, holding a book titled “Dictionaire de France” In a period appropriate giltwood frame. Empire period, ...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Paint
Pair of French Empire Portraits of an Aristocratic Couple by Antoine Borel
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A pair of original oil paintings on canvas depicting a handsome young aristocratic couple of the Directoire, early Empire period. They are each pictured from the waist up, she holdin...
Category
Early 20th Century French Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Portrait from the French Revolution Titled 'Le Terreur' by Claude-Marie Dubufe
By Claude Marie Dubufe
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A moving portrait of a young aristocratic French woman on her way to the guillotine during the French Revolution's infamous Reign of Terror that lasted about a year between 1793 and ...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Early 19th Century Empire Period Portrait of a Gentleman
Located in Doylestown, PA
A charming portrait of a young Empire period gentleman with an earring, under glass in a period gild wood frame. Oil pastel on paper, French, circa 1800.
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Paper
Artwork wall panel handmade painting made in Italy by Cupioli available
Located in Rimini, IT
Virtue by Virtue
Thorn for thorn
Making a comparison between a plant (the pomegranate) and a character (Livia Drusilla) is a rather daring and perhaps a little bizarre idea, however...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Empire Paintings
Materials
Scagliola, Wood, Paint
French Empire Period Pastel and Gouache Painting, circa 1810 in Giltwood Frame
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French Empire period floral pastel and gouache painting from the early 19th century, in giltwood frame. This French painting features an exquisite depiction of a bouquet of flowers...
Category
Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Giltwood, Paint
"C'est L'Empereur !" Antique Oil on Canvas after Hugh de Twenebrokes Glazebrook
Located in Dallas, TX
According to the book, History of the First Napoleon, by Louis Philippe R. Fenwick de Porquet, the scene portrayed in this oil on canvas painting is a historical event. Originally by the British painter, Hugh de Twenebrokes Glazebrook in 1890 (ours is an interpretation by L. Garnier), C’est L’Empereur depicts Napoleon himself standing watch in a field during the Revolutionary War.
Napoleon is positioned in between two haystacks that dot the field. He is dressed in his typical battle uniform of a colonel in the Chasseurs à Cheval de La Garde Impériale, which is a grayish-green overcoat...
Category
Early 20th Century French Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Early Portrait of a Gentleman
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Danish oil painting of a gentleman in original gilted Damborg frame.
Measures on the inside: 28" x 22 1/4".
Category
19th Century Danish Antique Empire Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Empire paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Empire paintings for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage paintings created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include wall decorations, more furniture and collectibles and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with canvas, fabric and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Empire paintings made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Denmark pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original paintings, popular names associated with this style include Cupioli made in Italy, and Prevost. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for paintings differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $548 and tops out at $15,352 while the average work can sell for $4,993.
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