Napoleon III Bookcases
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.
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Kingwood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Mahogany, Glass, Wood
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Kingwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Paint
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Walnut
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Oak
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Mahogany
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Pearwood, Walnut, Burl
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Brass, Ormolu
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Brass
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Oak
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Brass, Bronze
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Walnut
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Bronze
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Oak
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Walnut
1860s Italian Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Ebony, Walnut
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Mahogany
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Wood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Pine
19th Century British Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Mahogany
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Pine
Late 18th Century British Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Brass
Late 18th Century British Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Wood, Paint
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Pine
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Marble, Bronze
2010s Napoleon III Bookcases
Mahogany
1810s Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Wood, Walnut, Paint
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Pearwood, Walnut, Burl
Early 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Marble, Brass
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Brass
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Oak
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Wood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Brass, Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Oak
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Walnut, Pine
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Leather, Glass, Mahogany
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Blown Glass, Mahogany
1850s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Brass
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Walnut
20th Century English Napoleon III Bookcases
Glass, Hardwood
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Bookcases
Mahogany