Napoleon III Console 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 Console Tables
Fruitwood
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Limestone
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble, Brass, Iron
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Brass
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Wood
19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble, Bronze
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Bronze, Ormolu
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Belgian Black Marble, Wrought Iron
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble, Wrought Iron
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble, Bronze
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Velvet, Wood
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble, Iron
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Mahogany
Late 19th Century Belgian Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
Late 19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Walnut
Late 19th Century Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Felt, Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Ebony
Late 19th Century European Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Brass
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
1880s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Kingwood
Early 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Carrara Marble, Ormolu
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Stone
Mid-19th Century Italian Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Carrara Marble, Iron
20th Century American Napoleon III Console Tables
Early 1800s English Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Oak
1890s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Ash
Early 20th Century French Napoleon III Console Tables
Satinwood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble, Brass
1890s Chinese Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Elm
Mid-19th Century Spanish Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Wood
1810s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Mahogany
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble, Iron, Brass
20th Century French Napoleon III Console Tables
Velvet, Wood
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Mahogany, Paint
Late 19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Carrara Marble
19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Brass
1860s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
Mid-20th Century Italian Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
1880s Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Wood
20th Century French Napoleon III Console Tables
Wood
1870s French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble
Mid-19th Century French Antique Napoleon III Console Tables
Marble