Empire Style vs Neoclassicism
アンピール様式 / 新古典主義
Empire Style comes from Furniture and Interiors and Neoclassicism from Historical Styles. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Empire Style
Empire is the style of interiors, furniture and dress that spread out of France during and after Napoleon's empire of 1804 to 1814. Large plain veneered surfaces carry gilt metal mounts placed as isolated points rather than as continuous carving. Lions' paws, winged sphinx heads, lotus and round rosettes arrive in symmetrical pairs, which is what makes it read heavier than the neoclassicism before it.
Neoclassicism
A movement that turned back to ancient simplicity, prompted by the excavations at Pompeii and reacting against the decorative excess of Rococo. Contours are hard, color is held down, and the subjects preach civic virtue. States of the revolutionary period chose this style as their own face.
| Empire Style | Neoclassicism | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1804–1814 | 1760s–1830s |
| Family | Furniture and Interiors | Historical Styles |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Gilt mounts sit as evenly spaced points on plain mahogany surfaces / Front legs end in a lion's paw below and a winged sphinx head above, which carries the arm / A row of round rosette mounts runs along the lower rail of the back at equal spacing / Chairs come in matched pairs, with seat and wall covered in the same dark silk | Hard, clear contour lines / A restrained number of colors / Ancient subjects and dress / Shallow, stage like space |
| Best used for | When a room has to declare authority through the size of its plain surfaces and a few gilt points, not through more carving · When matched pairs of furniture are used to set the axis of a room | Showing public purpose and discipline by cutting ornament away · Making a scene that borrows historical legitimacy |
| Type | Keep lettering off the furniture and on the textiles or the wall. Set Roman capitals in one line with wide spacing and add no decorative strokes. | Inscriptional capitals, letterspaced wide. |
| Composition | Place furniture in pairs against the axis of the room and divide the wall into three horizontal zones. Gather the empty space into a few large plain surfaces instead of scattering it. | Let the horizontal work hard and place elements symmetrically. |
| Material | Lay mahogany veneer across broad surfaces and fix gilt bronze mounts onto it. Cover seat and wall in the same silk, with a dark blue or red ground so the gold reads as points. | The white of stone and plaster, with gold kept to key points. |
| Caution | Add mounts until they fill the surface and the plain ground vanishes, taking the style back to rococo busyness. | Do not mistake simplicity for dullness. Hard contour and tense composition are both required at once. |