History Of French Furniture

In 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte had himself anointed and crowned Emperor of France. The furniture design known as Empire is a design of marvelous grandeur that Napoleon felt fitting to honor his magnificence. He considered himself the greatest globe ruler since Julius Caesar. The Empire design is the last of the excellent French styles that commonly affected furniture design throughout the globe. During his regulation, Napoleon conquered Italy and Egypt. He was overwhelmed by his conquest of these countries. He brought back to France archaeological wonders of Egypt, the long-forgotten early empire. He was proud of his conquest of Italy and Egypt and happily considered himself as the very first deserving successor to Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. Bedroom furniture created in this duration was meant to mimic the designs of these excellent empires. Napoleon commissioned the greatest musician of Europe to develop architecture and design that would certainly correspond the grandeur of Greece, the magnificence of Rome and the massiveness of Egypt.

The Empire design furniture is huge, in splendid scale and incredibly masculine. It has a extreme, hefty, masculine look with no carving. The wood carving which is incredibly typical in the previous styles of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI is usually changed with wood veneers polished to a high sheen. To equalize the bareness of wood veneer, metal gilts are utilized to enhance the furniture. A great idea to determining the Empire design is the vulgar usage of ormolu mounts. Ormolus are gilt-metal ornaments generally in different ornamental motifs. These are generally drawn from antique sources or patriotic inspiration. There are motifs derived from Egyptian archeology. Falcon, sphinxes, cobras, obelisks, winged lions are simply a couple of these Egyptian inspired ornaments. Napoleon's fascination with his conquest of Egypt and later on the excavation of ruins by the French Egyptologists developed so much interest in everything related to Egypt.

There are additionally motifs derived from early Greek and Roman design. Vases, lamps, torches, heads of Greek gods, ram's head and cornucopias are amongst the many Greek and Roman inspired ornaments integrated into the Empire design of furniture. French Patriotism grew more powerful during Napoleon's regulation and it appeared in the many patriotically inspired ornaments that included laurel wreaths, eagles, swords, lances, rifles, drum and bugles. The usage of legs that are shaped like animals or sphinxes is incredibly normal to the Empire design. The graceful cabriole legs of the previous styles have actually been changed with the huge, more frequently overstated and vulgar usage of legs that are shaped like animals.

The following are the basic characteristics of the Empire design of furniture:

1. It has hefty masculine look.

2. Wood veneers polished to high sheen are utilized instead of the ornate wood carving generally connected with the previous French furniture styles.

3. The excessive usage of sizable, frequently badly cast ormolu mounts.

4. Wood back chairs with upholstered seats. These feature the barrel armchair which is a incredibly normal Empire design chair.

5. The usage of designs motivated by classical Greece.

6. Mirror-back console table. This is generally utilized by the women to inspect their no-longer floor-length hemlines.

7. The usage of motifs motivated by early Egypt, Rome and Greece.

8. The usage of Patriotic and military motifs and the usage of letter "N", Napoleon's name initial.

In conclusion, it is pretty uncomplicated to understand the Empire design of furniture with its huge appearance and overbearing ormolu mounts which generally illustrates Egyptian, Greek and Roman motifs. This design is a action backwards from the easy but stylish Louis XVI design.