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Empire Furniture

EMPIRE STYLE

From 1804–15, Napoléon I reigned as the emperor of France, bringing the country into a new era of opulence after the fall of the monarchy and the tumultuous years of the French Revolution. He declared, “We must have very solid things, made to last 100 years.” Empire-style furniture followed suit, with imposing pieces constructed from mahogany and adorned with gilded ornaments. Expanding on the neoclassicism popularized in the previous century — such as in ​​Louis XVI style — Empire style borrowed from the great civilizations of antiquity, from Egypt to Greece and Rome, to connect this nascent empire to the power of the past.

Napoléon I believed the production of fine furniture would reflect the stature of the republic, with his official architects Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine leading the way with their work on his residences.

Luxurious materials, symmetrical shapes and bold colors characterize antique Empire-style bedroom furniture, armchairs, cabinets and other structures, with frequent motifs including mythological creatures, geometric designs, acanthus leaves, eagles, bees (the imperial emblem) and swans, a favorite of Empress Joséphine.

Flat surfaces, like marble tabletops, were accented with decadent details, such as the bronze furniture mounts made by sculptor Pierre-Philippe Thomire for the French palaces. Martin-Guillaume Biennais, who worked as the imperial goldsmith, crafted intricate luxury objects that mixed wood, fine metal, mother-of-pearl and ivory. Ormolu — or elaborate bronze gilding — was essential to French design in the 18th and 19th centuries as a cornerstone of the neoclassical and Empire styles.

The style became popular abroad, influencing the American Empire style. Stately pieces carved with sprigs of olives by cabinetmaker Pierre-Antoine Bellange were acquired by American President James Monroe for the White House in 1817.

Find a collection of antique Empire tables, lighting, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.

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Item Ships From: Germany
Style: Empire
Empire Chest of Drawers with Granite Top, France, early 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Empire chest of drawers in cherry with lateral pilasters with blackened caryatids on lion's paw feet. The black granite top complements the ebony carved details beautifully. The fitt...
Category

Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Granite, Brass

19th Century Empire Style a Russian Armchair
Located in Berlin, DE
Solid mahogany. Straight frame on saber-shaped legs with laid sheet. Strongly curved supports for slightly rising armrests. High-profile, contoured backrest frame with a wide finish....
Category

19th Century Russian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

Table in the Versace Style with 4 Columns Frame in Maple Root Veneer
Located in Berlin, DE
Table in the Versace style with 4 columns frame in maple root veneer. Made in Italy.
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Empire Furniture

Materials

Maple

Large Athénienne, 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Large Athénienne crafted from iron with a black patina, supported by three legs terminating in winged lion heads. Resting atop is a basin with gadrooned sides, a domed lid, and three...
Category

19th Century German Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Iron

Baroque Brass Empire Chandelier Rock Crystal Lustre Lamp Antique Gold Swan
Located in Berlin, DE
Introducing a stunning Brass Baroque Empire Chandelier, an exquisite piece adorned with captivating crystals, reminiscent of the classical style of the Empire era. This is a new repr...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary German Empire Furniture

Materials

Crystal, Rock Crystal, Brass, Wire

French Transition Period secretary c. 1760 Jean-Francois Dubut
Located in Münster, DE
Secretary à battant - Jean-Francois Dubut Elaborately crafted bureau à battant, Paris circa 1760, Transition, Jean-Francois Dubut rosewood, amaranth, violet and ebony veneered on o...
Category

1760s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Marble

Empire Secretaire, Vienna, circa 1810
Located in Greding, DE
Viennese secretaire on square pointed feet with bronze sabots. The body with beveled corners has a two-door base, a writing flap with central lock and one top drawer. The front side ...
Category

1810s Austrian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Antique Empire Russia St. Petersburg Mahogany Games Console Table Brass Banding
Located in Munich, DE
This elegant Russian games and console table was made in st Petersburg circa 1810. It has ben crafted out of mahogany and is decorated with fine brass banding.The table is convertibl...
Category

1810s Russian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Brass

Empire Wall Fountain, probably France around 1800
Located in Greding, DE
Wall fountain with semicircular basin and stand in Rosso Verona marble. Winged female iron herms support the basin.
Category

Early 1800s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Marble, Iron

Empire Candlesticks, early 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
A pair of elegant Empire candlesticks crafted from partially fire-gilded bronze, dating to the early 19th century. Each candlestick stands on a round base, featuring a tapered, flute...
Category

Early 19th Century Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Patent Secretaire, France, 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Patent secretaire with mahogany veneered frame and columns with bronze capitals and bases.
Category

19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Empire Nightstands, Walnut, Full Columns, Gold-Leaf, Brass, Italy, circa 1810
Located in Regensburg, DE
Beautiful, neoclassical and greatly restored Pair of Venetian Empire Nightstands, bedside tables or pillar cabinets from northern Italy, circa 1810. Walnut, veneered on softwood and ...
Category

1810s Italian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Brass, Gold Leaf

Antique 1820 Italy Column Pillar Pedestal Painted Wood Storage Cabinet
Located in Munich, DE
This elegant and unusual Italien painted beech wood cabinet has retained it's original painted decoration. This extravagant piece of furniture shows all the characteristics of late ...
Category

1820s Italian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Beech

Original antique Empire Armchair circa 1860-1880 Massive Mahogany bronze
Located in Berlin, DE
Original Empire armchair circa 1860-1880 massive mahogany 2 beautiful armchairs from an Empire room. Each 2 figures provided cast bronze. The chairs have a nice curve, in a top...
Category

Mid-19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

Original Empire Set of a Sofa 2 Armchairs and 1 Table Mahogany with Bronze Figur
Located in Berlin, DE
Original Empire sofa circa 1860-1870 from an Empire room. Massive mahogany cast with Empire caryadites bronze. The armchairs are made of a different fabric than the sofa and should b...
Category

19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

Empire Chandelier, Russia, circa 1810
Located in Greding, DE
Large eight-flame chandelier of the Russian Empire with cobalt blue glass and fire-gilded arms with cockerel decoration and hanging pine cone. The supporting hoop is connected by fou...
Category

1810s Russian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Glass

Pair of French 18th Century Corner Cabinets with Marble tops, JACOB Frères
Located in Dresden, DE
A pair of French, Empire corner cabinets, 18th Century, by Jacob Frères, one of the most infuluential and successful furniture makers in France. Arched panel door and rounded legs ...
Category

Late 18th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Marble

Chest of drawers, Louis Seize around 1790
Located in Münster, DE
Louis Seize chest of drawers, circa 1790 Walnut and plum veneered on a softwood body, band inlays, the edges inlaid all around with maple and ebony, three drawers, original fittings...
Category

Late 18th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Wood, Nutwood

Antique Victorian Opal Glass Biscuit Jar Box Hand Painted Floral Motif Gnome Lid
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Antique Victorian Satin / Opaline Glass Biscuit Jar with Hand-Painted Floral Décor and Silverplate Lid, Late 19th Century A charming and finely crafted Victorian satin or opaline gl...
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Silver Plate

20th Century Empire Style Table Decoration after J.B. Claude Odiot
Located in Berlin, DE
Bronze, engraved and silvered. Three columns shafts with full-plastic, finely engraved swans. Funnel-shaped insert.
Category

20th Century Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Empire Bronze Crystal Chandelier, with Fire-Gilded Swans, 19th Century
Located in Berlin, DE
Extremely decorative, heavy and high quality Empire chandelier, 19th century. No replica. Staffed with five magnificent, fire-gilded bronze swans. This chandelier impresses with its uniqueness. The swan is the symbol animal of the Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais...
Category

19th Century Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Crystal, Bronze

French Empire Highboy Dresser, 1810
Located in Leimen, DE
Introducing a stunning French Empire Dresser from 1810, featuring a classic semainier design with five drawers adorned in elegant mahogany veneer...
Category

1810s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

French Empire Highboy Dresser, 1810
French Empire Highboy Dresser, 1810
$6,537 Sale Price
20% Off
Brass Basket Empire Sac a Pearl Chandelier Crystal Lustre Lamp Antique Gold
Located in Berlin, DE
Introducing a stunning Brass Basket Empire Sac a Pearl Chandelier, an exquisite piece adorned with captivating crystals, reminiscent of the classical style of the Empire era. This an...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary European Empire Furniture

Materials

Crystal, Brass, Wire

Empire Splendid French Saloon Table, Bronze Gilt
Located in Berlin, DE
Finely chased and gilded bronze in wax casting. Three curly legs connected with gutter. Medium with garland-shaped decoration. The legs are in the form of three winged, fully plastic...
Category

20th Century French Empire Furniture

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Magnificent French Empire style in white marble
Located in Berlin, DE
A magnificent 19th-century French Empire sundial in white marble, decorated with bronze floral mounts. The piece is crowned with a splendid bronze eagle, adorned with bronze details,...
Category

1820s Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble

Pair of Candleholders, Berlin, early 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Executed as stylized palms on rectangular landscape bases. The girandoles, each with four nozzles, are crafted in gilt-patinated wood with stucco elements. In unrestored original con...
Category

1810s German Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Wood, Giltwood

Empire Armoire, Walnut Veneer, Full Columns, Brass, Austria circa 1815
Located in Regensburg, DE
Fine, large Empire Armoire or wardrobe from Vienna, Austria about 1810-15. The armoire has a beautiful book-matched walnut veneer and with excellent shellac hand-polished finish. (French Polish). The doors inside are counter veneered in blonde cherry wood with gig iron box lock and locking bars. Two ebonized full-columns with corinthian brass...
Category

Early 19th Century Austrian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Brass

Pair of Empire Wall Sconces in Bronze with Flower Basket Motif, Sweden, 1950s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Pair of nice sconces. Each fixture requires a European E14 candelabra bulb, bulb up to 40 watts. Each wall light has a beautiful patina and gives each room an eclectic statement. Mad...
Category

1950s Swedish Vintage Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

20th Century Empire Style Wall Girdle/Wall Light after Antoine-André Ravrio
Located in Berlin, DE
Imperial Empire wall girdle to Antoine-André Ravrio 1759-1814. Bronze, gilded or partly dark patinated. From acanthus of fullplastic herme / Amor adult with, holding a vase as a car...
Category

20th Century Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Empire Centerpiece with Putto Decor, Bronze and Glass, Early 19th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Empire centerpiece made of cut glass and fire-gilded bronze with griffin decor and small putto figure in the center.
Category

Early 19th Century European Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Pair of Early 19th Century French Empire Gilt Bronze Candlesticks after C. Galle
Located in Berlin, DE
Pair of excellent early 19th century French empire gilt bronze candlesticks in the style of Claude Galle (1758-1815): A tapering stem with rich trelliswork relief divided into thr...
Category

1810s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Pair of 19th Century Empire Gilt Bronze and Patinated Bronze Victory Candelabras
Located in Berlin, DE
Pair of Large 19th Century Empire Ormolu and Patinated Bronze Victory Sculptures Candelabras in the manner of Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) A large a...
Category

1820s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Empire Armchair with winged Caryatids and yellow Silk Fabric, France circa 1800
Located in Greding, DE
Empire fauteuil in mahogany and yellow silk morée upholstery with red piping and carved winged caryatids, France c. 1800. Lit.: J. Mottheau, Meubles et Emsembles Directoire Empire, T...
Category

Early 1800s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Silk, Mahogany

19th Century Capriccio Jeremias August Urlaub Clock Picture Germany
Located in Epfach, DE
Capriccio from Jeremias August Urlaub, born 1784 in Hanau, death 1837 in St.Petersburg belongs to an important franconian painter family. Original magnificent and special frame, o...
Category

Early 19th Century German Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Canvas, Giltwood

Pair of Early 19 Century French Empire Gilt Bronze Neoclassical Candlesticks
Located in Berlin, DE
Excellent pair of early 19 century French empire gilt bronze neoclassical candlesticks. A tapering stem with rich and finely chased ...
Category

1810s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Pair of Monumental Empire Style Candle Wall Sconces Candlestick, Italy, 1970s
Located in Nuernberg, DE
Pair of giltwood candlestick wall sconces 1970s in empire style. Each fixture requires two candles. The wall lights have a beautiful patina and gives each room an eclectic statement.
Category

1970s Italian Vintage Empire Furniture

Materials

Metal

German Wooden Biedermeier/ Empire Trumeau Mirror with Brass a Appliques
Located in Hamburg, DE
The pillar mirror, also called trumeau is from the German Biedermeier period. The frame is made of mahogany and root wood veneer. On the frame above the mirror is a mythological scen...
Category

Early 18th Century German Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Wood, Mahogany

Rare French, Early 19th Century Napoleonic Medal Cabinet
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
Rare French early 19th century Napoleonic medal cabinet on four gilt bronze pawfeet, a hinged door to the top and front opening to reveal four drawers containing 184 very fine bronzed plaster medals...
Category

Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Plaster, Wood, Paper

Around 1800 Baltic States 4 Dining Chairs Mohagony Brasswire Decor
Located in Epfach, DE
4 chairs for a dining room, around 1800, provenance probably from a noble household in the Baltic States Mahogany, backrests and seat frames decorated with brass wire, designed in s...
Category

1810s Baltic Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

18th Century Viennese Dark Green Painted and Giltwood Mantle Clock
Located in Berlin, DE
18th century Viennese dark green painted and giltwood pendule of unusual size in the form of a classical urn, the gilt-bronze dial with Roman numerals, surmounted by giltwood flowers...
Category

1790s Austrian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Giltwood, Wood

Antique Empire Chairs from Around 1810-1815
Located in Berlin, DE
Antique Empire chairs from around 1900 Solid wood mahogany. Seat upholstered and covered with black fabric. Very stable and robust built. Hind...
Category

19th Century German Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

Antique Empire Sewing Table, Paris, circa 1810
Located in Berlin, DE
Solid oak, Cuba mahogany veneer. Fire-gilt fittings. Hinged cover plate with intermediate compartments. Slip-in drawer on four full columns with four fire-gilded capitals and bases.
Category

1810s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Brass

Living Room Suite in the Antique Empire Style Beech Hand Carved
Located in Berlin, DE
Very exact fine-carved sculpture made of solid, blackened beechwood. Poliment gold-plated. Scratched frame on sculpturally carved legs ending in claws. Armrests volute-shaped bent in...
Category

20th Century French Empire Furniture

Materials

Wood

Brass Basket Empire Sac a Pearl Chandelier Crystal Lustre Lamp Antique Gold
Located in Berlin, DE
Introducing a stunning Brass Basket Empire Sac a Pearl Chandelier, an exquisite piece adorned with captivating crystals, reminiscent of the classical style of the Empire era. This is...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary European Empire Furniture

Materials

Crystal, Brass, Wire

Pair of Empire Mahogany Armchairs in the Manner of Jacob Desmalter
Located in Berlin, DE
A pair of Empire mahogany fauteuils or armchair 'a la Reine' in the manner of Jacob-Desmalter/ François-Honoré-Georges Jacob Desmalter (1770-1841, son of Jacob Desmalter), newly upho...
Category

1810s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

19th Century Original French Empire Sofa and Armchair Set Made from Mahogany
Located in Berlin, DE
Massive mahogany partly carved. Cambered frame on curly legs. Supports bracing supports for slightly rising armrests in rolled-up volute. High-awned, slightly curved backrest frame w...
Category

19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

Antique Empire / Biedermeier Armchair, circa 1810, Mahogany
Located in Berlin, DE
Mahogany solid wood, partially veneered. Semicircular backrests, Bergeren-form. Restored and reupholstered with original Wollrips fabric covered. (C-147).
Category

Early 19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Mahogany

Princely Pomp Candlestick After Pierre Philippe Thomire
Located in Berlin, DE
Extremely finely chased and cast bronze. Fully sculpted figures (Viktoria). Carrying on the head and supporting with the hands torch-shaped shaft with 12 cornucopia, curved lighthous...
Category

20th Century French Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Large Antique French Empire Style Alabaster and Bronze Twelve-Light Chandelier
Located in Barntrup, DE
Large antique French Empire-style alabaster, frosted glass, and bronze pendant chandelier from circa 1890. An impressive and large twelve-light alabaster pendant chandelier from the ...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Alabaster, Bronze

19th Century Swedish Gilded Wall Clock with Dolphins, Signed Ericsson Stockholm
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
Fine and decorative Swedish Cartel clock. Very elaborately carved wooden case flanked by two sculptural dolphins. The dial signed P. Ericsson Stoc...
Category

19th Century Swedish Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Giltwood

Set of Three Antique French Empire Wall Light Sconces 2 Lights torch, France
Located in Nuernberg, DE
A nice set of three sconces with 2 light sources, made of bronze in torch styles. Each fixture requires two European E14 candelabra bulbs, each up to 40 watts. The wall lights have a...
Category

1930s French Vintage Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Pair of Large Empire Appliqués / Sconces circa 1800, Gilded Linden Wood
Located in Berlin, DE
Pair of large Empire appliqués / sconces circa 1800, gilded linden wood Solid linden wood, gilded two-flame. Carved, gilded. Ribbon, each with a central, fully sculpted eagle sculpt...
Category

Early 1800s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Crystal

Jean-Joseph Chapuis Rare Pair of Empire parcel-gilt japanned Fauteuils
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
Despite his long life, very little is known about the general production of menuisier (chairmaker) Jean-Joseph Chapuis and even less about his use of bent laminates, which must be viewed as the most advanced of its kind until the appearance of Michael Thonet’s work of the 1830s. The profound reverence for the classical world in enlightened circles in early nine-teenth-century Europe and the United States often resulted in the archaeological resurrection of the art, architecture, and design of ancient Greece and Rome. No chair employing the innovative technique of bending wood more boldly expresses this allegiance to the past than this armchair painted in le style antique and based on the ancient Roman sella curulis (folding stool); With a curved toprail decorated with putti supporting a medaillion and flanked by scrolling acanthus, the arms with ball finials, above a caned seat, on curved supports terminating in foliate gilt-metal sabots. This merger of technological innovation with fashionable aesthetics parallels the work of the American Samuel Gragg...
Category

Early 19th Century Belgian Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bentwood

A Louis XVI gilt bronze mounted marble Pendule Portique , by Michel-F. Piolaine
Located in Berlin, DE
Pendule Clock from the Time of Louis XVI by Piolaine of Paris An exceptionally elegant Pendule clock from the time of Louis XVIII. Signed “Piolaine à Paris,” the work of a renowned...
Category

1790s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble

Portal clock, marble, Empire period
Located in Berlin, DE
Portico clock from the Empire period, circa 1810, with an architectural design in white marble, accompanied by very simple ornamentation in mercury-gilt bronze with finely chiseled...
Category

1810s Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble, Bronze

French Empire-era Ormolu bronze mantle watch of Demeter, circa 1820
Located in Berlin, DE
Empire Bronze Pendant "Demeter" Beautiful bronze fireplace pendant from the Empire period, debuted in the 19th century, above the Nativity scene.
Category

1820s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Gold, Bronze

Pair of gilded Empire candelabra with five lights, made of high-quality bronze
Located in Berlin, DE
A Fine Quality Pair of French Empire Bronze and Gilt Ormolu Candelabra, each in the form of cherub figures holding up three ornate candle branches, These magnificent candelabras we...
Category

1820s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bronze, Gold Leaf

French mantel clock made of white marble
Located in Berlin, DE
French mantel clock made of white marble Enamel dial with blue Roman numerals and gilt hands. French eight-day movement with anchor escapement, striking the hours and half-hours on...
Category

1850s French Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble

Braunschweig Castle watchmaker Antoine Nicolas Delolme, 1752-1836
Located in Berlin, DE
Antoine Nicolas Delolme, 1752–1836, active in Brunswick from 1780 to 1810, became court clockmaker in 1786. The pendulum is signed on both the front and back. The hands are openwor...
Category

1810s Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Bentwood

Empire-style portal clock, France, early 19th century, black
Located in Berlin, DE
Empire-style portal clock, France, early 19th century. Open portal case made of black stone with gilt bronze appliqués, enamel dial with Roman numerals, movement with hook escapement...
Category

1820s Antique Empire Furniture

Materials

Belgian Black Marble

Empire furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Empire furniture for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage furniture created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include lighting, decorative objects, tables and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, wood and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Empire furniture made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Italy pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original furniture, popular names associated with this style include Modenese Gastone, Europa Antiques, Baker Furniture Company, and Gherardo Degli Albizzi. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for furniture differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $56 and tops out at $955,603 while the average work can sell for $4,296.