Empire Furniture has a very masculine look with a tremendous amount of details. Todays furniture does not often feature the exquisite exotic woods of the empire furniture. If you love the Greek and Roman decorating styles, empire furniture is right up your alley. With most modern furniture there is more to be desired than a plain piece of furniture. Empire styles combine the classical brass motifs giving you the interest in the ornate details but also the modern masculine clean lines in one furniture piece. Today nothing compares to the noble and exquisite looks of the empire period. Many furniture manufactures produce furniture in mass quantities, and often don't spend the time in the details. With empire furniture you often get the best wood, the best ornate hardware, hand carved designs, and ornate gold gilding, which adds up to a furniture piece being a piece of art than just a regular side table. (Read More.....)
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Finding great antique furniture can be costly and rare to find, so often times when a reproduction furniture piece comes along that I can fix up to look like the real thing, I turn to appliques to dress up the furniture. Hardware can make a *great* piece even more *spectacular*. Ormolus are gilt-metal decorations that are nailed on to the furniture. Today you can also purchase moulds that you can reuse with plaster of Paris. Reproducing the Neoclassical looks of Robert Adam is quite simple today when you can produce dozens of plaster ornaments with one simple plastic mould. Laurel wreaths, rosettes and bell flowers are often my choice when I am dressing up chairs, beds and chests. They are well worth the investment. Check out some of the discounted Moulds here and here. 
Napoleon focused on a heavy use of symbols to convey the message of Napoleon's power. The designs were an inspiration of the Greek, Roman Period, but with bold colors, and costly elaborate design. The look was on a grand, massive scale with ornate decoration including ormolu with Egyptian influence. Lions, griffins and symbols references to Napoleon's reign were very common. 
Empire Style was a result of Napoleon's reign in 1769 through 1821. It was the second phase of neoclassicism (which is also called "Directoire") which is simply a style engaged by the government during that time. The Empire style furniture is usually massive in scale and often has very severe look to the furniture, resulting in a heavy masculine look . Previous furniture styles (before this time) were slowly moving away from the heavy ordimented furniture to more simplier lines. Gradual change became apparent with simplier looks, but they still employed some intricate detail in the hardware. The Empire style often features the best wood veneers with metal gilts that adorn the furniture, leaving some fancy detail to balance out the sharp shapes of the furniture. The Empire look satisified the best of both worlds,- being that of some fancy ornate detail; simple shapes, and outstanding wood detail. 
The Empire Style was a style around the time period of 1804-1815. The Empire style was propaganda for the Emperor Napoléon I where he was able to present an image that sent off a message of power. One key to empire style is spare, noble, and massive. Its majesty lies in its imposing presence. Surfaces are flat and the corners are sharp. Moldings are non-existent. The small pieces of furniture for specific purposes became more rare. Some of the Empire Chests are grand! Often they feature the most stunning wood veneers which attracts most people to the empire looks. The Empire style is certainly very regal and sophisticated. 
The Curule chair came about in Etruria (referred to in Greek texts as Tyrrhenia , now known as Tuscany) and was found on surviving Etruscan monuments to identify magistrates. Much earlier stools that were supported on a cross-frame are known from the New Kingdom of Egypt. Curule chairs were designed for the officials of the highest government dignitaries. It was originally made of ivory, without arms and it was usually inlaid with ivory and precious metals. It served a seat for the positioned in power, and later the emperor himself. 
For more than a thousand years, the ancient Romans, Greeks had an eye for highly sophisticated architectural and decorative art forms that are widely admired today. Amazing frescoes, and stunning mosaics have been found in the ruins at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and in Rome itself. The excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 1800s had a huge impact on the decoration of various palaces in Naples, Venice and Milan. The ancient styles of stone, and marble, and outstanding art is often the key elements to these ancient styles. 
Mahogany was often the wood of choice during 1804-1815. Either blond, dark, moiré, figured, or flame wood is found to be the prime choice when it came to furniture. It is interesting to note that after 1810, mahogany became unavailable because of the continental blockade and furniture makers were forced to use walnut, burled elm, beech, ash, boxwood, olivewood, maple, and rarely citronnier.