Also known as the Napoléon III period, the twenty year reign of the nephew of Napoléon I, was a period where science and industry were to triumph. This was a period of literal copies for the materials, forms, and ornamental motifs seen in the furniture produced during this period were all borrowed from preceding styles. Paris was being redesigned by Baron Haussmann and in its transformation; the furniture-makers of the faubourg Saint-Antoine were producing abundantly in order to furnish all of the new townhouses and apartments.

Abroad
England: The Victorian style
Italy: The Ottocento and neo-Gothic styles
Spain: The end of Isabellin

Furniture
The furniture of the Napoléon III period is most influenced by three styles: the Renaissance, Louis XV (rococo) and Louis XVI. Small pieces of all types are unceasingly developed to satisfy new needs in daily life.

Materials and Techniques
Dark woods are used and machine-assisted production methods are perfected during the Second Empire. Ebony, pitch pine, blackened pear wood, walnut, tulipwood and purple wood were all used. Wood coated with black lacquer, or blackened wood, which was used for small pieces with inlaid or painted decoration was the rage. Papier mâché was used beginning in 1850 in France. It was shaped by molding and was often inset with mother-of-pearl. Cuir bouilli (literally: "boiled leather") was used much like papier mâché as well. Gilt bronze was used as ornament, frame and case elements and was often made to resemble bamboo. Cast iron could now be produced cheaply and began to appear in furniture, especially in settees, beds and guéridon stands. The use of machine tools became widespread in all areas of furniture craft during the Napoléon III period.

Ornament
A variety of materials and techniques are employed in Second Empire ornament. Gilt-bronze fittings, copper, pewter, ivory and mother-of-pearl inlay, carved and gilded wood, applied porcelain plaques, painting on wood and panels of lacquered wood are some examples. Motifs from the Renaissance, Louis XV and Louis XVI are in fashion along with imagery of the Far East, Africa and Native Americas. Birds, pagodas, fret designs and figures in oriental pieces were part of the Louis XVI-Empress pieces (Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoléon III). Black caryatids were used a legs and support stands on tables. Imitation cord and bamboo was used for seating frames.


Source: Chadenet, Sylvie. French Furniture from Louis XIII to Art Deco. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2001.