[ 19th Century ]
The Empire Style in France is associated with the period from 1804 to 1815, the time of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Biedermeier style was particularly popular in Germany and Austria from about 1815 through the 1850s.
It was a bourgeois inspired reaction against the French Empire style.
Characterized by simplicity of form, restrained decoration and
functionality, as plain as possible.
Woods: light woods, ash, cherry, pear and maple AND mahogany.
Legs, supports and chair backs were curved.
Ornamentation included swans with curved necks, griffins and foliage.
Usually gilded but modestly.
Charles X reigned briefly in France (1824 to 1830), between the reigns of
Louis XVIII and Louis Philippe. This was called the Restoration Period, which continued
the neoclassicism of the Empire Style. More industrialized production continued
with the end of the guild system following the revolution. The guilds had
limited production to small workshops with specialized trades; their
elimination meant furniture could be manufactured in one location. Also, with
the rise of the bourgeois or middle class, required standards were less demanding
than that of the royalty. The result was less luxurious but more mass produced
furniture.
The shortage of mahogany from the English blockade and the decline in its
demand, led to the popularity of local, lighter coloured woods - bois clairs.
Ring-turned baluster-shaped legs were associated with the Charles X style, and
bold cabriole scrolled legs hinted at the return of rococo to come.
The Napoleon III Style lasted from 1848 until 1870. It was also called the Second Empire or the Louis XVI Revival style. This Neo - Classical revival was popular in France and America. It was intentionally promoted by Napoleon III to remind France of its past glories, and was encouraged by Empress Eugenie who indulged in the cult of Marie-Antoinette. The style's popularity ended in 1870 with the Franco - Prussian War. The stage was set for the beginning of the International Style and Art Nouveau.
Biedermeier - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biedermeier, seems to have been an Austrian form of the same fashion.