The cabinet which was designed and made for Marie Louise, on his marriage with her in 1810, is an excellent example of the Napoleonic furniture. The wood used for this style of furniture was almost invariably rich mahogany, the color of which made a good ground for the bronze gilt mounts which were applied. The full-page illustration shews these mountings, which are all classical in character; and though there is no particular grace in the outline or form of the cabinet, there is a certain dignity and solemnity, relieved from oppressiveness by the fine chasing and gilding of the metal enrichments, and the excellent color and figuring of the rich Spanish mahogany used. This cabinet, and several other more or less ornate pieces of Napoleonic furniture, may still be seen in the Chateau of Fontainebleau. [Illustration: CABINET IN MAHOGANY WITH BRONZE GILT MOUNTINGS. Presented by Napoleon I. to Marie Louise on his Marriage with her in 1810. PERIOD: NAPOLEON I.] On secretaires and tables, a common ornament of this description of furniture, is a column of mahogany, with a capital and base of bronze (either gilt, part gilt, or green), in the form of the head of a sphinx with the foot of an animal; console tables are supported by sphinxes and griffins: and candelabra and wall brackets for candles, have winged figures of females, stiff in modelling and constrained in attitude, but almost invariably of good material with careful finish. [Illustration: TABOURET, OR STOOL. Carved and Gilt. ARM CHAIR. In Mahogany, with Gilt Bronze Mountings. PERIOD OF NAPOLEON I.] The bas-reliefs in metal which ornament the panels of the friezes of cabinets, or the marble bases of clocks, are either reproductions of mythological subjects from old Italian gems and seals, or represent the battles of the Emperor, in which Napoleon is portrayed as a Roman general. There was plenty of room to replace so much that had disappeared during the Revolution, and a vast quantity of decorative furniture was made during the few years which elapsed before the disaster of Waterloo caused the disappearance of a power which had been almost meteoric in its career. One of the best authorities on "Empire Furniture" is the book of designs published in 1809 by the architects Percier and Fontaine. It is the more valuable, as a work of reference, from the fact that every design represented was actually carried out, and is not a mere exercise of fancy, as is the case with many such books. In the preface the authors modestly state that they are entirely indebted to the antique for the reproduction of the different ornaments; and the originals, from which some of the designs were taken, are still preserved in a fragmentary form in the Museum of the Vatican.