The Empire style
(1804-1814)
Typical Characteristics
The Empire style, is named after the period of the First Empire, 1804-1814, but survived for about 10 to 15 more years, was created largely by Fontaine and Percier, who were Napoleon's architects.
Greek and Roman ideals dominated this style. Combining the simplicity of the antique with the imperial grandeur of the Napoleon era.
The Empire style, which displayed the ideal for severe forms in its simple and rigid lines, was cold, artificial and uninviting, and offered little in comfort. It also eliminated almost all curving elements, curved lines were largely restricted to only chairs and sofas.
The use of moldings, which gives interest to even the simplest furniture, was almost abandoned. When moldings did occur they were of a diminutive character, such as a fillet or a narrow flat band.
The use of both engaged and disengaged smooth round columns having a bronze base and a capital was an architectural ornamental feature of the Empire style. These small columns were frequently employed on the facade of the commode and on other articles of a similar nature. When the columns were engaged they were affixed to the flat surface in such a manner that they did not interfere with / or soften the sharp corners.
Probably the most outstanding feature of the Empire style was its clear-cut silhouette. The corners were sharp and clear and any attempt to soften the sharp right angles, such as by chamfering or engaged columns, was discarded.
The block-like appearance of the cabinetwork was further emphasized by the large uninterrupted flat surfaces of veneered mahogany. This use of flat uniform surfaces of polished mahogany gave the cabinetwork a singular massive look that no form of ornamentation could ever relieve.
The use of heavy bases were also introduced to accentuate further the massive and block-like appearance of the cabinetwork.
Principle of Symmetry
Another pronounced feature of the Empire style was the principle of symmetry. It was observed with uncompromising rigor, and everything, even to the smallest detail, had to be in perfect balance to the right and left of center. If one decorative motif was not symmetrical with another, such as the bronze appliques used on furniture, then the composition of the single motif had to be symmetrical. For example, if only one bronze applique in the form of a winged victory was to be used, both of her arms were upraised, she held a wreath in each hand, and the folds in her flowing gown were exactly the same on each side of the center.
This principle of symmetry was also extended to the arrangement of furniture, which undoubtedly explains the stiff and formal look associated with so many interiors decorated in the Empire style.
Woods
At no other time in the history of French cabinetwork was mahogany more extensively used. Both solid and veneered mahogany with a finely polished surface prevailed in every category of cabinetwork.
A considerable amount of furniture was also made of knot elm. The popularity of this wood was undoubtedly due to its warm reddish color which was similar to the color of mahogany.
Maple and lemon wood were fashionable for light colored bedroom furniture. Walnut and the majority of other native woods, such as beech, lost all of their popularity.
Marble was much favored and choice pieces were carefully selected for the tops of tables, commodes, secretaires a abattant and for other similar articles.
Carving was sparingly employed and its use was generally restricted to chairs and sofas. As a rule the carved detail was in low relief and was occasionally gilded. Sometimes the chairs were painted in a white, gray or straw-colored ground, with the carved detail picked out either in gold or in a strong contrasting color.
Marquetry and lacquer work were completely discarded. The inlaying of bands of contrasting wood such as ebony with mahogany was occasionally employed. Some of the ambitious pieces of mahogany cabinetwork were inlaid with bronze and even silver, while brass and steel were substituted in less costly pieces.
Gilded Bronze Appliques
The best cabinetwork of this era, such as the work of Desmalter, was unexcelled for its perfected workmanship, while the less ambitious pieces made for the middle class were rather commonplace.
The practice of decorating the surface of furniture with gilded bronze appliques was an outstanding feature of the Empire style. Although gilded bronze mounts had been extensively used in cabinetwork since the time of Boulle, in no period were they more often employed than in the present style. It is also interesting to note that in the earlier styles many of the mounts served a useful purpose and were therefore generally found in the same position, while in the Empire style they were entirely decorative and therefore did not appear in any definite place.
The French cabinetmaker realized the necessity for decorating the large flat surfaces of polished mahogany and he placed the gilded bronze mounts in accordance with his own artistic taste. As a rule each bronze mount was isolated in its own particular place, and its selection did not depend upon the other bronze mounts found on the same piece of furniture or on the article of furniture it was to decorate. In other words, identical mounts were used on different articles of furniture, for they were not designed for one particular piece.
These bronze appliques, which were generally flat, were remarkable for the purity of their outline and composition and for the jewel-like quality of their workmanship. They were precise and extremely neat, and their chiseled perfection and their superb chasing and gilding were exquisitely complimented by the dark polished surfaces. They were found on practically every article of furniture, and they even appeared on chairs and sofas, where their use is always of doubtful taste.
Handles
The French cabinetmaker in achieving his goal of flat uninterrupted surfaces frequently omitted handles on the drawers, and it was necessary to pull out the drawers by means of a key placed in the keyhole, which was also almost invisible.
When handles were used they were in the form of either round and flat small knobs ornamented with rosettes or loose-ring handles attached to a circular back plate at the top.
Undoubtedly the Empire style, with its lack of pleasing lines, no marquetry or lacquer work, few moldings and little carving, would have been completely poverty-stricken if it had not been for the gilt bronze appliques and for the strange creatures used as supports for chairs and decorative tables.
Bronze Creatures
These fabulous creatures, which were made of bronze, wood or a combination of both, were largely borrowed from antiquity and were a marked feature of the Empire style. Winged sphinxes, winged lions and chimeras with the heads of eagles were frequently used for arm posts on chairs and for the front legs of chairs and for the legs of decorative tables. Then there were the really fantastic animals, such as the lion monopodium, composed of the head and chest of a lion that continued to an animal's paw.
Almost as popular as the sphinx was a creature resembling an elongated terminal figure. It was designed with the bust of a woman mounted on an elongated plain and quadrangular tapering pillar that rested on two human feet. Sometimes the head and feet were made of gilt bronze.
Swans were also very fashionable in the Empire style and they were frequently found as arm-posts for chairs and sofas as well as for the entire arm. There were also numerous other forms appearing in this repertory of weird creatures. It scarcely seems necessary to say that these decorative supports in order to possess artistic merit had to be superbly designed and executed.
Keeping these supports within the realm of good taste was a rare achievement that only a few of the great contemporary French cabinetmakers could accomplish. These decorative supports were acceptable only in cabinetwork of the most finished workmanship, for in any average cabinetwork they were purely ridiculous extravagances.
Egyptian motifs became more and more fashionable following Napoleon's successes in that country. Etruscan motifs and some Italian Renaissance motifs were also occasionally employed.
Included among the favorite Empire motifs were acanthus foliage of a stiff and formal character, tightly woven wreaths, Greek palm leaves of stiff design, rinceaux especially of palm leaves, rosettes, stars, swags, arabesques and medallions. Winged classical figures in flowing gowns and victories presenting laurel crowns and blowing trumpets were much in evidence. Olympian gods and goddesses, Greek and Roman heroes, mythological or allegorical subjects, emblems of victory, war-like emblems, imperial emblems, and the imperial eagle was much used.
Animals and fanciful monsters, such as archaic lion masks, chimeras, lions, winged lions, swans, griffins, dolphins, rams' heads and the paw feet of lions and other real or fanciful beasts were fashionable decorative motifs. Greek and Roman caryatids and terms were much used as decorative supports.
From the art of Egypt the decorative artists introduced lotus capitals, the sphinx, Egyptian terminal figures, winged globes, vases and other Egyptian detail. Other fashionable motifs included the winged thunderbolt of Jupiter, antique heads of helmeted warriors, Roman chariots, trumpets and winged trumpets, cornucopias, Neptune's trident, swords, lances and other weapons, lyres and sistrums and other musical instruments, winged torches, Grecian urns, antique Roman tripods, and vessels from classic antiquities such as kraters and amphorae. Flowers, garlands, vines, laurel boughs and bay leaves were also employed to some extent and were characterized by their stiff and formal designs.
Figured and striped silks made at Lyon were extensively used in upholstery work.
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