June 2026
Napoleon III: eclecticism without apology
Ebonised wood, mother-of-pearl, buttoning and revival styles: a period long dismissed, now much sought after.
The Second Empire does not look for a style: it summons them all. A single house could hold a Louis XV drawing room, a Renaissance dining room and an orientalist smoking room without anyone seeing a contradiction.
Technically the period is fascinating. Ebonised wood imitates ebony, mother-of-pearl and brass are inlaid as stringing, and deep buttoning turns seating into an object of comfort — the moment furniture stops being merely decorative.
Long dismissed as not old enough, these pieces are coming back strongly: their visual density works remarkably well in very plain contemporary interiors.
