Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
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 Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Giltwood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Silver Leaf
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror, Wood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Gold Leaf
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Gold Leaf
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Gold Leaf
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Glass, Cut Glass, Wood, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Walnut, Faux Bamboo, Mirror
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Faux Bamboo
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Giltwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Gold Leaf
Early 20th Century French Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Bamboo, Mirror
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Giltwood, Mirror
1880s Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Wood, Gesso
1970s Vintage Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Glass
19th Century European Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mercury Glass, Giltwood
Early 20th Century American Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror, Giltwood
21st Century and Contemporary American Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Wood
2010s Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Ceramic, Mirror, Resin, Plywood, Paper
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Giltwood
20th Century American Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Wood, Stucco
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Glass, Stucco, Wood
20th Century French Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Maple
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Hardwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror, Hardwood, Giltwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Wood
Early 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Stucco, Wood
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Rattan
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mercury Glass, Giltwood