When hearing the term Empire in a conversation about design, most people immediately think of France or Napoleon. But should this style be entirely associated with the famous commander, or is this tendency to interpret a movement in the most obvious historical context an oversimplification?

Empire, as a style, was originated in France by Napoleon Bonaparte, immediately after his empirical elections in 1800. And throughout his rule, Empire played a very important role in bolstering his glory and majesty. The reign of Augustus Caesar established a model for Napoleon’s leadership, as opposed to the earlier French Classicism, which instead tended to be a manifestation of Roman civil society.

An important tool for the promotion of Napoleon’s empire was played out in art, represented mostly by the painter J. L. David and the architect Ch. Perciér. The patterns and models for the Empire style were derived from ancient excavations, this empirical art later becoming the so-called renaissance of ancient culture.

The curious thing here is that the antique repertoire became enriched by the elements of Egyptian art, which coincided with Napoleon’s infamous expedition to North Africa. This is the main reason why we can find motifs that include sphinxes, burial-animal figures, and sometimes even mummies. Throughout the empirical period, people were also strongly interested in all sorts of allegorical symbols, such as lions, swans, dolphins, or bees. Napoleon’s defeat at the Waterloo in 1815 resulted in the end of this style associated with the French empire. Nevertheless, in Europe throughout the first half of the 19th century, its regional varieties were still being carried on, though by then they were mostly influenced by the Burgeoise, which modified the style into it’s more discrete form – Biedermeier.

The empirical interior was completely different from it’s ancestor. You would be wasting your time searching for the jolly rococo – settings rife with angels, floral embellishments or golden curves, which were replaced by strict right-angled shapes for furniture and proportional decorations for wallpapers and drapes. In terms of furniture, this new look was to a large extent established by two architects, Perciér and Fontaine, cooperating with the famous furniture-maker Francois Jacob-Desmalter.

In their concepts, they obviously sought to manifest the glory of the empire, as well as of the emperor himself. The furniture itself lost its refinement along with the technical precision of processing, but on the other hand it gained lustre and representation. As opposed to earlier periods, it became more robust, heavier and, considering it’s shape, more elliptical. Decoration was mostly represented by the marqueterie from precious woods, for a contrastsupplemented by pearls and gemstones, eventually combined with rich bronze armor.

These so-called ormolus eventually reached a degree of absolute perfection. They were not merely embellishments, they also played an important role for protecting the edges and legs of the pieces they complimented, and were likewise used for fabricating watches, chandeliers, candlesticks and other dining table decorations.

Typical proponents of the style, Pierre Thomire and Jean Odiot, who were among the most famous molders of the time, supplied Napoleon, and later also the most wealthy classes, with luxury objects. Together with the increasing focus on personal hygiene, all sorts of toilet accessories, such as washing tables and mirrors, made their appearance. The furniture was often made strictly for decorative purposes. Furniture-makers were shaping and decorating arms with various veneers, and fabrics used for upholstery were sober with smooth geometrical decors, but always from luxury materials.

The French preference for furniture decorated with noble woods and vermeils was quickly copied (with greater or lesser success) throughout Europe. Austria, which carefully monitored its French ally (or rival), did not enrich the Empire style at all, instead more or less interpreting models from Paris. Nevertheless, the Viennese variation reached a high artistic quality enriched by the typically picturesque approach familiar in Central Europe. The main figure of Viennese furniture design was Josef Danhauser, who, until his death in 1830, designed a series of elegant but simple furniture.

But here we being talking about the Central European Biedermeier, which is a different chapter in history…