Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
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.
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Fruitwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Fruitwood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Brass
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Walnut, Paint
20th Century Italian Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Gesso, Fabric, Giltwood
20th Century Spanish Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Beech
20th Century French Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Iron
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Fruitwood
1960s French Vintage Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Gold Leaf
20th Century Italian Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Mahogany
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Walnut
19th Century British Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Wood
1820s Swedish Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Birch
20th Century American Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Silk, Wood
19th Century Portuguese Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Rosewood
1950s French Vintage Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Paint, Beech
20th Century American Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Silk, Wood
1940s European Vintage Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Bentwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Damask
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Walnut
20th Century French Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Wood
1950s French Vintage Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Iron
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Rush, Beech
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Hardwood, Giltwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Wood
Early 1900s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Silk, Mahogany
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Velvet, Hardwood
1910s French Vintage Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood, Fabric, Straw
Late 19th Century Swedish Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Mahogany
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Walnut
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Mahogany
Late 19th Century European Antique Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Gold Leaf
1920s American Vintage Napoleon III Dining Room Chairs
Leather, Wood, Giltwood