THE EMPIRE STYLE
Exhibitions devoted to the Empress Josephine , at the occasion of the bicentenary of his death, are an opportunity to return to the Empire style that marked his time and the glory of Napoleon in France but throughout Europe.
Joséphine's appartment, Château de Malmaison. Bed by Jacob-Desmalters & cie, 1812. (Image GFDL Creative Commons license)
Empire style covers the period of the reign of Napoleon I , from 1804 to 1814. After the restoration of the Bourbons, he endures a further ten years , before giving way to a more bourgeois style . It follows the style Louis XVI and Directoire .
The antique, already present in the decorative arts since Louis XVI, is now at its peak. First inspiration of the Empire, it is more than a mere influence , but really a search copy the most accurate large Greek, Roman and Egyptian .
The Empire style is very much influenced by the Emperor Napoleon , who imposes his taste for massive and imposing elements. Military campaigns , including those of Egypt, some inspired decor. Warriors attributes abound. With the expansion of the Empire , this style is needed across Europe , Napoleon wishing that it reflects the imperial power and prestige .
Caroussel, Triumph Arc
Architects Percier Charles (1764-1838) and Pierre- Léonard Fontaine (1762-1853) , who studied in Rome monuments of antiquity and the Renaissance , play a fundamental role in the definition and dissemination of the Empire style . They provide countless models, borrowing their archaeological scholarship : they draw for Manufactures de Sèvres , Savonnerie and Beauvais , for goldsmith Martin- Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843) or the cabinetmaker François- Honoré Jacob- Desmalter ( 1770-1841 ) . The style of furniture they develop, characterized by large austere surfaces bounded by straight lines, patterned Greek golden palms , crowns of laurel or winged victories , is particularly well adapted to the taste of imperial France . They disseminate their work through the publication of collections of prints . Their most famous work is the European interior decorations , which appears from the Consulate by notebooks, then complete edition in 1812, before reissued to reflect the sustainability of its influence.
The Empire is not an intimate style , it is right , hieratic , leaving no room for the curve. Circular supports are thus often replaced by elements of square section, as pilasters . There are still columns on certain parts, but they are generally detached so as to show the angles of furniture. The use of moldings, which gives relief to furniture, is almost entirely abandoned. The style is defined by a simple silhouette but cut cleanly . Furthermore , the use of bases and bases increases the monumental heavy parts . No other style attaches so much importance to symmetry.
Another very important point , the quality of wood used in furniture is of paramount importance . Indeed , it appears massively without inlay , with few ornaments, and must therefore be superb. Mahogany predominates. It is used in solid or veneer . All kinds of different mahogany are used.
Smaller furniture, who can not use mahogany because of its high price due to its importation, use a dark wood , such as root or If Thuya . From 1806 the British blockade forces cabinet to turn to other woods : walnut , maple, linden , ash .
Bronze applique play an important role and are entrusted to specialized artists. Isolated within large wooden panels , they must be excellent composition remarkably well carved and chiseled . Thomire is one of the undisputed masters. Virtually all grounds of bronzes are borrowed from Greco-Roman or Egyptian ancient repertoire.
The bronzes are also used to represent fantastic creatures such as winged sphinxes , lions and chimeras, often headed eagle, used as table legs or armrest support. Swans are also used as an armrest , body forming legs and wings armrest . Antique heads , cornucopias, musical instruments, are used as patterns, which should still add emblems of victory , war and empire, those of the animal world as well as the world of flowers as daisy .
Empire style tripode table. (Image GFDL Creative Commons license)
In terms of seats , many new combinations of lines and shapes appear. The silhouettes are heavier and stiffer than those of the Louis XVI style. The lines are broad and simple. Sometimes the records are destroyed, their profile resembling an elongated S . There are seats shaped gondola and seats curule form . The vast majority of products are mahogany seats . Chairs , square seat, see their amounts supported by a variety armrests : caryatids , lions , swans, chimeras , dragons ...
Beds under the Empire present new forms derived from the ancient . Often placed in alcoves richly draped , they are supposed to be viewed from the side . They are called bed boat . Bedside and footboard are made of records of identical dimensions , complemented by a scroll or a coil. They are accompanied by a generally dome-shaped canopy fixed to the wall .
Napoléon's bedroom, at Fontainebleau. (Image GFDL Creative Commons license)
As for the tables, as these are massive dining tables or small tripod pedestal including fashion grows, the vast majority are circular , in imitation of Greek and Roman tables. The plates are generally made of marble. If the feet are not shaped columns with capitals , table tops are supported by chimerical figures , grouped in threes .
Consoles are almost always rectangular. Background between the amounts is often covered with a mirror.
Among the creations of the Empire include the psyche, which is an independent mobile mirror, large , mid- height where there are sconces , placed next to the dressing table . The sleepiness , cylindrical bedside table is also a creation of the imperial period , as the Minister office , in triumphal arch form , and the sink , which shows the Athenian of Louis XVI .
The liqueurs are beginning to popularize , and are part of the trousseau of the traveler. Two musical instruments very popular supplement Empire salons : harp, typical of the period , and the pianoforte , rare and expensive novelty, which the pedals are often shaped lyre.
On the death of Napoleon , the Imperial style and monumentality leave gradually replaced by a more intimate and bourgeois style . This is the last of the classic styles.
Some artists :
Cabinetmaking: Georges Jacob and his second son , whose stamp is " Jacob D. Meslee street " , François- Honoré -Desmalter Jacob (1770-1841) , Jean Joseph Chapuis (1765-1864) , Brussels disciple of Jacob.
Architecture: Charles Percier (1764-1838) , Pierre- François -Léonard Fontaine ( 1762-1853 ) .
Painting : Jacques -Louis David ( 1748-1825 ) .
Sculpture: Pierre- Philippe Thomire ( 1751-1843 ) .
Goldsmith Martin -Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843)
