Posts Tagged ‘BIEDERMEIER’

Globes
Pair of early nineteenth-century mahogany library globes by Newton, published in 1838 and 1836. The tripod frames with out-scrolled legs ending in brass castors, 3 ft 8 in high        780 0
Large pair of terrestrial and celestial globes by Newton; published 25 March 1875. Supported in mahogany frames on triple curving legs 205 0
Pair of terrestrial and celestial globes in turned stands by James
Wyld, Charing Cross East; published 1847 185 0
Knife Boxes
A pair of mahogany urn-shaped knife boxes, stamped W. Johnston, with domed lids and bodies inlaid with flowers and stripes, 2 ft 5 in high 115 0
Sheraton  inlaid  mahogany serpentine-fronted knife box in
original condition 32 0
Mirrors—Mantel
Empire-style giltwood overmantel with triple mirrored panels
and decorated with classical figures 105 0
Rectangular mantel mirror in a giltwood frame carved with
acanthus and shell motifs, 31 in by 25 in 60 0
Mirrors—Toilet or Dressing
Sheraton serpentine-fronted box-frame toilet mirror fitted with
two drawers, 17 in wide 36 0
Sheraton box-frame shield-shape toilet mirror with two drawers,
18 in wide 30 0
Mahogany box-frame toilet mirror with three drawers, 15 in
wide 15 0
Edwardian   mahogany   box-frame   toilet  mirror   with three
drawers to base, 22 in wide 9 0
Mirrors—Wall
Pair of Chinese-Chippendale giltwood girandoles of rococo outline mounted with phoenix-birds and clusters of flowers from which issue two scrolled candle branches. The base enriched with acorns and oak leaves, 38

in high 650 0
Mid-Georgian wall glass in a giltwood frame carved with scrolls
and foliage and pierced, 44 in high 200 0
Chippendale mahogany mirror with gilt gesso beading
George IV convex mirror in a gilt frame enriched with spherical ornament with two scrolled candle sconces. Crested with a gilt eagle with outspread wings 76 0
Regency giltwood convex mirror with ball encrusted moulded
frame and ebonised slip, 1 ft 11 in diameter 15 0
Settees, Couches and Chaise Longues
Small carved mahogany sofa, the arched back carved with
rococo motifs. Curved arms, carved seat rail and cabriole legs        135 0
some auction room prices ‘. 1968-69
Decorated satinwood cane-panelled settee with loose seat
cushion, 4 ft 4 in George III painted settee with flat rectangular back and arms,
on turned legs. The arms, seat rails and legs are painted
with husks and flowers on a cream ground, 6 ft wide Early George III mahogany settee with stuffed back and arms.
The seat rail and legs are carved with blind fret, 5 ft 8 in
wide, (some restoration) Victorian rosewood frame serpentine-fronted chaise longue on
short cabriole legs
Settles
Eighteenth-century oak settle, 5 ft 5 in wide Seventeenth-century panelled oak settle with box seat, 4 ft 6 in wide
Seventeenth-century carved and panelled tall-back hall settle, 5 ft 7 in wide
Sideboards
Small nineteenth-century sideboard inlaid with ebony lines. Raised back, the centre drawer flanked by a cupboard and deep drawer. Supported on six turned and tapering legs, 4 ft 8 in wide
Hepplewhite-style mahogany serpentine sideboard of rich mellow colour, cross-banded in kingwood and fitted with a napery drawer and cellaret cupboards with octagonal gilt metal handles and supported on chamfered

legs, 7 ft 2 in wide
Georgian mahogany half-moon sideboard with two cupboards to the sides and two drawers with lion ring handles in the centre. Four tapering legs, 4 ft wide
Large mahogany Sheraton-style sideboard fitted with two long drawers and flanked by two deep drawers, supported on tapering legs
Regency Empire mahogany sideboard of architectural form, with a reverse breakfront with two shallow drawers to the centre flanked by deep cupboards. Supported by two curved and four simulated bamboo legs

terminating in brass paw feet. The whole mounted with ormolu and brass griffins, lions’ masks and sphinx and with Adams-style garlands and patera, 7 ft 6 in long
Late Georgian mahogany sideboard with shaped front, the top back rail fitted with three tambour slides. Two cupboards and a centre drawer to the base over a waved apron. Supported on six slender tapering legs, 5 ft

7 in wide
Early nineteenth-century mahogany bow-front sideboard on spiral-turned legs, 6 ft 1 in wide
Tables—Break fast
Regency mahogany breakfast table with brass stringing on the banded top and a turned pillar ending in a reeded quadruped, 5 ft by 3 ft 5 in
Georgian mahogany oval breakfast table with reeded edge and
Tables—Card
Chippendale mahogany card table with shaped folding top on boldly carved cabriole legs ending in claw and ball feet, 2 ft 7 in wide 370 0
Late George II mahogany card table with border of carved flowerheads and legs and frieze carved with blind fret, 3 ft wide 250 0
Regency card table in figured rosewood inlaid with brass flowers and leaves, the D-top on a ringed stem and quadruple brass capped legs, 3 ft wide 190 0
Sheraton mahogany card table inlaid with satinwood lines and
on tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 180 0
George II walnut card table with rectangular top on turned legs
with mantled knees and club feet, 3 ft wide 95 0
Regency mahogany card table with green baize interior on curving quadruple support, ending in brass claw feet. The top is cross-banded 65 0
Victorian mahogany card table with double Sap top supported
on four tapering shafts, terminating in curved legs 44 0
Tables—Centre
Regency painted centre tabic, the circular top simulating green marble, the border with brass mouldings hinged to a carved turned central support on a curved triangular base with lion’s paw feet, 4 ft diameter 120 0
Edwards and Roberts eboniscd centre table with ormolu beading on cluster column and quadruple base, 5 ft 6 in wide 38 0
Red Buhl shaped centre table with heavy ormolu mounts, two
drawers and on cabriole legs. (Poor condition) 11 0
Tables—Dining
Charles I oak dining table with a triple-plank top and the frieze carved with leaves and interlaced arcading, on column legs, 6 ft 5 in long by 2 ft 7 in wide 360 0
Large late George III mahogany dining table, the top richly carved with acanthus, ribbon motifs, satyr masks and a coat of arms. Supported on ten tapering spiral-twist legs with five loose leaves, 12 ft 4 in long 185 0
Georgian mahogany two pillar dining table with triple curving
legs ending in brass-capped feet 122 0
Georgian mahogany oval drop-leaf dining table on turned legs
and pad feet 75 0
Eighteenth-century mahogany oval drop-leaf cottage dining table
on taper legs with pad feet, 3 ft 6 in wide 44 0
Mahogany gadrooned oval dining table with cabriole legs and
claw and ball feet 40 0
Georgian mahogany drum library table with leather top and four real and four dummy drawers. On triple curving legs with brass-capped feet, 3 ft 3 in diameter 680 0
some auction room prices : 1968-69
George III mahogany library table fitted with seven drawers and dummy drawers with gilt metal lion ring handles, the top with gilt tooled green leather and the whole raised on a curved quadruple support with

brass-capped feet
Tables—Games and Sewing
Eighteenth-century mahogany, shaped folding top, games table on nutcracker frame with cabriole legs and claw and ball feet, 34 in wide
William IV games table with sliding and reversible top inlaid as a chess board opening to reveal a backgammon board with two drawers to the side. Central pillar supported on quadruple curving feet
Nineteenth-century mahogany sewing table with rising top and drawers below. The slender tapering legs ending in brass-capped feet
Tables—Gate-leg
George I elmwood gate-leg table, the oval top with flaps on
cabriole legs carved with scrolls and leaves and ending in
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 9 in wide Seventeenth-century oak oval gate-leg dining table with double
flaps supported on bobbin turned legs with plain cross
stretchers, 4 ft 9 in wide Late George II mahogany gate-leg table, the oval top with two
flaps, on unusual legs fluted and ending in paw feet, 3 ft 9 in
wide
Oak oval gate-leg table on turned underframe with drawer, 4 ft wide
Tables—Occasional
Late George II mahogany piecrust table with bird-cage support on fluted stem with carved legs and claw and ball feet, 2 ft 2 in diameter
Large mahogany piecrust tripod table with baluster stem and
pointed pad feet, 3 ft 5 in diameter Mahogany tripod table, the circular top with raised rim, on
cabriole feet, 1 ft 10 in diameter
Tables—Pembroke
Late Georgian mahogany oval Pembroke table with drawer, on
square tapering legs, 2 ft 7 in wide by 3 ft 6 in long Late Georgian mahogany Pembroke table painted with a floral
border and on turned and fluted legs Georgian mahogany Pembroke table with folding flaps and
single drawer, inlaid with satinwood lines and fan motifs, on
tapering legs, 3 ft 2 in wide
Tables—Refectory
Seventeenth-century oak refectory table of slender plain form, the base having square ends united by a single stretcher, 7 ft 3 in long
Oak refectory table on bulbous end supports with central
stretcher, 7 ft 7 in by 3 ft wide 130 0
An exceptionally long oak refectory table with triple curving
supports, 18 ft 6 in long, 3 ft 3 in wide 90 0
Tables—Side
Queen Anne banded walnut side table with two deep and two
shallow drawers on square legs, 3 ft 3 in wide 170 0
Chinese-Chippendale mahogany side table, the frieze carved with
blind fret. Moulded legs, 3 ft wide 88 0
Oak side table with drawer, on turned legs, 3 ft wide 64 0
Walnutwood side table with cabriole legs carved with acanthus
leaves 31 0
Tables—Sofa
George III satinwood sofa table cross-banded with acacia, fitted with two drawers and false drawers opposite on trestle supports with splayed curved feet and brass castors, 2 ft 10 in wide        750 0
Regency banded mahogany sofa table with tulipwood stringing with two drawers on end supports and central stretcher with brass claw feet, 5 ft 10 in extended 380 0
Late George III mahogany sofa table with two drawers in frieze and raised on flat trestle supports with out-curved legs, 3 ft 2 in wide 270 0
George III mahogany sofa table banded in rosewood and with two drawers. It has trestle supports with tripod splayed legs and brass feet, 3 ft wide 250 0
Tables—Sutherland
Mahogany Sutherland table on turned underframe, 2 ft 9 in
wide 42 0
Victorian walnut-veneered Sutherland table on turned supports,
2 ft 6 in wide 36 0
Tables—Tea
Regency mahogany tea table with folding top on a turned pillar and four curved legs, the whole inlaid with brass stringing, 3 ft wide 120 0
Late George II mahogany tea table, the top with a border of flowerheads and ribbon and the frieze and chamfered legs carved with Chinese blind fret, 3 ft wide 60 0
George III mahogany tea table with folding top, a drawer in
the frieze and square tapering legs, 3 ft 8 in wide 38 0
Tables—Wine
Hepplewhite mahogany wine table, the inlaid octagonal top
supported on triple concave curving legs 105 0
Victorian mahogany wine table on pillar and tripod base, 21 in
diameter 10 0
Tables—Writing
George III mahogany pedestal writing table, the gilt tooled leather top with three drawers at each side of the frieze and
the pedestals with cupboards and drawers at either end, 4 ft wide
Early eighteenth-century banded fruitwood writing table, fitted
with three drawers, a shaped apron and on cabriole legs with
pad feet, 2 ft 4 in wide Victorian lady’s mahogany writing table with two short drawers
on lyre end supports, 3 ft wide Carved mahogany writing table with fitted drawer, the top lined
with leather, on cabriole legs, 2 ft 5 in wide
Tallboys and Lowboys
George II walnut tallboy, the top with reeded and canted corners and three small and three long drawers. The base having three long drawers and bracket feet
Queen Anne small walnut tallboy of mellow colour, the upper chest fitted with two small and three long drawers over a brushing slide, and three long graduated drawers
William and Mary lowboy inlaid with scrolls and motifs. The top fitted with two small and two long drawers and two long drawers to the base, 4 ft 3 in high
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice and two small and three long drawers to the top and tliree long drawers to the base which is supported on bracket feet
Georgian mahogany tallboy with dentil cornice, the top fitted with two small and three long drawers, the base with three long drawers and supported on bracket feet, 6 ft 1 in high
Waiters
Mid-Georgian mahogany dumb waiter with turned and carved columns supporting three trays. The whole on cabriole tripod feet, 4 ft high
George III mahogany dumb waiter with two revolving tiers and baluster centre on three curved and moulded legs and castor feet applied with roundels, 3 ft 2 in high
George II mahogany dumb waiter with three graduated revolving tiers and spiral fluting on turned central support. Plain cabriole legs, 3 ft 6 in high
Wardrobes
Mahogany breakfront wardrobe fitted with sliding trays, four
drawers and panelled cupboards Small Georgian mahogany wardrobe enclosed by two panelled
doors with three drawers in the base, 3 ft 9 in wide George III mahogany gents wardrobe with pierced swan-neck
cresting, a pair of doors banded in satinwood and two short
and two long drawers below, 7 ft high by 4 ft 4 in wide Regency mahogany wardrobe the upper part with sliding trays
with four drawers under on splay feet, 3 ft 11 in wide
Washstands
Late George III mahogany washstand, the top hinged and opening to form a back, the front with a pair of cupboard doors above one small drawer, on square splayed legs, 2 ft wide
Edwardian three-tier corner washstand with basin 18 0 George III mahogany corner washstand, the slender legs joined
by a stretcher with a drawer, 2 ft wide                                      14 0
Wine Coolers
Georgian inlaid mahogany sarcophagus wine cooler with lion
mask and ring handle on paw feet 65 0
Georgian mahogany octagonal wine cooler with lifting top and
short square moulded legs, 18 in wide 55 0

Art Deco European Furniture: ITALIAN CABINET, WALNUT EASY CHAIR, ITALIAN BUFFET, SWEDISH CHAIR, BELGIAN DESK, ITALIAN COFFEE TABLE

TREMENDOUS UPHEAVALS came about
in Europe in the wake of World War 1. The need for change was keenly felt by architects and designers from Italy to Belgium and the Netherlands, and from Germany to Scandinavia.
At the heart of this longing for change lay a functionalist ideology and a desire for art to accommodate the exciting technological advances of the early 20th century Mass-produced, functional furniture designs became the order of the day, a philosophy that was realized by Alvar Aalto in Finland and with the formation in 1919 of the Bauhaus by Walter Gropius. Internationally acclaimed, the Bauhaus sought to
bring together the talents of creative artists, designers, and craftsmen, to create prototype designs suitable for industrial mass production (see p.426).
Although the Modernist Bauhaus style prevailed in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s, there were also architects and designers working in a more decorative manner. Using vibrant colours, and drawing on the Rococo and Biedermeier styles for inspiration, German Art Deco furniture exhibited Oriental touches in its use of lacquer, together with Cubist detailing. Bruno Paul’s “Room for a Gentleman”, shown at Macy’s department store in New York in 1928, was typical of the
restrained form of Art Deco that was pursued by these German designers. The room contained lacquered furniture with inlay work, and a rug with a geometric design. Many German and Austrian – mainly Jewish – designers emigrated to America in the late 1.920s and early I 930s, and joined Paul Frankl (see p.397) in developing the Art Deco style there.
NORTHERN EUROPEAN TRENDS It was in the Netherlands that the concept of abstraction was first applied to furniture design. At the helm of this revolutionary artistic idea was the avant-garde De Stijl group, formed
in 1917 by the painters Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian. The functionalist furniture designed by the group was conspicuously absent from the 1925 Paris Exhibition. The Dutch pavilion there was designed by J.E Staal, a member of the Amsterdam School, which favoured the use of theatrical, expressionist, and Oriental motifs in furniture designs. Among the exhibits was furniture by C.A. Lion Cachet, designed for a Dutch ocean liner. He used dark tropical woods inlaid with ivory and lighter woods in traditional-shaped pieces with Oriental decoration and parchment panels. Jaap Gidding’s cinema and theatre interiors also followed the French Art Deco style. The Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam (1918-21) was typical, with its decorative, opulent interior, and special light effects.
In Scandinavia, Art Deco took a more classical turn with an emphasis on elegance, proportion, luxurious materials, and hand-crafting. In 1930, British writer, Morton Shand, defined the Swedish restrained Neoclassical style prevalent at the 1925 Paris
Exhibition as a “line characterized by its slender and almost elfin grace”. Exhibiting a similar style, Otto Meyer’s and Jacob Petersen’s graceful, curving chairs crafted out A sycamore and
mahogany were superbly set off by the batik wall-covering of Ebbe Sadolin in the Danish pavilion.
ITALIAN BALANCE
Italian furniture designers struggled to find a balance between the demand for classical elegance and the language of the sophisticated modern style.
Although ill at case with the display of sumptuous luxury that was the hallmark of French Art Deco, Italian cabinets, tables, writing desks, and chairs made full use of the beauty of lustrous local and exotic timbers. Many of them were embellished with bronze mounts, or lightly carved or
inlaid patterns of flower baskets, garlands, or geometric motifs that were typical of Art Deco.
The Italian version of Art Deco reached its fullest expression in the hands of the innovative architect Gio Ponti. He successfully managed to combine the functional, geometric, spare structure promoted by the Wiener Werkstatte designers with the sophisticated and elegant refinements of the French Art Deco style.

ITALIAN COFFEE TABLE
This fine Italian coffee table has a rectangular glass-topped surface on tapering plank legs. It has been crafted from bird’s-eye maple and ebony veneer. Exotic wood veneers, such as the ebony used in this piece, were commonly used
in European Art Deco furniture. The dark ebony highlights the simple geometric structure of the coffee table.
This Swiss walnut desk has a rectangular top with rounded corners. The central drawer and two flanking cabinets have decorative “English-style” handles, and the whole piece is raised
on square feet. The grain of the walnut has been highlighted, providing additional visual interest. c.1925.
BELGIAN DESK
Designed by De Coene Freres, this Belgian desk has four drawers, tapering legs, and nickel feet, and is covered in black lacquer. The sleek black design demonstrates a relinquishing of unnecessary decoration in favour of pure functionality. c. 1930.
SWEDISH CHAIR
This Swedish Art Deco chair is upholstered in brown leather and supported upon tapering legs, with two slightly splayed rear legs, and curvilinear arm rests. The backrest has a
central panel with burr wood and satinwood details. c.1920.
This bridge chair is one of a pair designed by De Coene Freres. The curved armrests form a continuous “U” shape with the bowed seat frame. The chair is upholstered in a red, checked fabric and has tapering front legs.

The rectilinear structure of the buffet is emphasized by the austere placement
of the doors and drawers.
The ivory inlay used for the drawer pulls is a typical Art Deco detail.
ITALIAN BUFFET
The shelf structure of this Italian buffet is characteristic of Art Deco design, combining clean lines and asymmetry with a luxurious and decorative burr wood finish. The shelf structure contains a mirror on a case with four small drawers and a twin
cabinet door enclosing an adjustable shelf. Subtle, inlaid handles are attached to the four drawers and the cabinet doors. The geometric shape is typical of Italian Art Deco, which took its lead from the Wiener Werlkstatte. The use of exotic timber is more typical of the French style.
The burr wood veneer
makes a boldly
luxurious statement
ITALIAN CABINET
This rectangular Ulrich Guglielmo cabinet has two doors and is supported on a square plinth lined with goat parchment. The doors have ivory mounts and the plinth is veneered with kingwood. Round ebony knobs, with gilded bronze mountings and keys, are attached to the 14 interior drawers. c.1930.
WALNUT EASY CHAIR
This continental walnut easy chair is upholstered in cream, a popular colour in Art Deco furniture design. The chair has broad, curving armrests, each supported on three vertical fluted rods, and moulded sledge-like block feet.

OCCASIONAL TABLES
THE SMALL-SCALE OCCASIONAL table
truly stands out. Many examples were also portable and could be moved around a room to serve a variety of functions, although often they had a specific use. In this case, a table could be brought out when required and then moved back to the walls or out of the room. Because occasional tables might be seen from all sides, they were usually veneered on the back, unlike side tables.
Occasional tables are often associated with leisure or with ladies’ activities. Worktables, for example, were given considerable attention by Sheraton and were largely an invention of this period.
Intended to hold sewing apparatus, worktables often have a silk work bag which slides out from beneath the upper surface. Others have a rising lid
with compartments. Some are even fitted with a rising screen for use in front of the fire. Small and fragile, worktables are often made in exotic wood, either with marquetry or
painted details.
Other types include those for gaming (often with a marquetry chess and backgammon board) and reading stands. These were known from the mid 18th century and had a ratcheted slope, sometimes inset with leather if the table was also to be used for drawing. Small, circular gueridons in France were often used to hold candelabra or perfume burners. Quartette, or nests-of-tables, were also an invention of the period. Elaborate examples with cut-brass decoration and exotic wood were made by George Oakley, and others with ring-turned supports and veneers by Gillows.

SWEDISH SIDE TABLE
This fine-quality, giltwood side table has an inset table top made of white marble, which is set above a giltwood frieze carved with laurel leaves and with recessed panels incorporating black and gold verve 6glomis6 vignettes. There
are additional panels above the legs and at the centre of the frieze. The turned, tapering legs are carved with low-relief laurel above a band of Greek key pattern, and then carved with spiral flutes below. The legs terminate in baluster feet. c.1810.

INLAID STAND
This stand is from the southern states of America and has a rectangular top with rounded corners and a band of double string inlay. It is raised on
inlaid, tapered legs below bird’s-eye maple panels. The single drawer has three interior compartments.
CONSOLE TABLE
Made in Franken, Germany, this console table s veneered in mahogany. It has a rectangular Warble table top above a frieze drawer and stands on square, tapering legs.
SHERATON GAMES TABLE
This mahogany games and worktable has a rectangular top with chamfered corners and a chessboard inlaid in its surface. It stands on square, tapering legs. c.1790.
REGENCY WRITING BOX
This bird’s-eye maple and ebony string writing box has a hinged slope with a leather inset, a drawer, and dummy drawer. The ring-turned, ebonized legs are joined by a C-scroll stretcher. c.1810.
BIEDERMEIER SIDE TABLE
This solid beech and beech-veneered side table has a round frieze with an overhanging circular top. It is raised on three sabre legs, joined lower down by an additional, circular shelf. 1820.

SWEDISH SIDE TABLE
This gilt-metal, mounted, mahogany side table by Karl Johan has a circular top above a frieze. The circular stem ends in a tripartite base with scrolled feet.
OCCASIONAL TABLE
Inlaid with brass, this French Empire mahogany table has a circular top featuring an inset marble and pierced-brass gallery. It has a fluted column support ending on a tripod base. Early 19th century.
SOUTH AFRICAN TEA TABLE
This stinkwood tea table has a rectangular top with rounded corners, a plain frieze, decorative contrasting inlays, and slightly tapering legs. 1790-1810.
ITALIAN BEDSIDE COMMODE
Made of olive wood and tulipwood, this crossbanded, bedside commode has a lift-up lid above a fall front and fitted interior. It has square, tapering legs.
BIEDERMEIER SEWING TABLE
This sewing table from Weimar is veneered in cherry wood with ebony stringing. The overhanging table top has rounded corners. The rounded case has two drawers and sabre legs. c.1830.
FEDERAL WORKSTAND
This figured mahogany workstand has a rectangular-shaped top supported by half-round colonettes and two drawers. It stands on rounded, tapering, ring-turned legs ending in ball feet. c.1820.

PATTERN BOOKS
THE VOGUE FOR SMALL, OCCASIONAL TABLES WAS ENCOURAGED BY VARIOUS PATTERN BOOKS PUBLISHED IN THE LATE 18TH AND EARLY 19TH CENTURIES.
The use of pattern books by furniture makers was well-established by the end of the 18th century, when Thomas Sheraton published The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book. Hugely significant in disseminating the Neoclassical Regency style in England and America, this book included many designs for occasional tables, from pot cupboards to urn stands. Although this was not particularly new – Chippendale and Ince arid Mayhew had included such objects in their pattern books of the 1750s and 60s – the lightness and variety of Sheratons examples was innovative.
Sheraton’s next book was his Cabinet Dictionary, published 1803, which, possibly influenced by Thomas Hope, included some Egyptian designs. The influence of French furniture is also evident in the inclusion of the small writing desk known as a bonheur-du-jour. Sheraton never completed his final massive volume, The Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer, and General Artist’s Encyclopaedia, although it was published, incomplete, in 1805. in this late title, contemporary developments in France, notably the post-revolutionary styles, were particularly evident.

ITALIAN TABLE
This Neoclassical inlaid fruitwood table en chiffoniers has a three-quarter gallery, two drawers with chevron banding, and square-section, tapering legs. Early 19th century.
WORKSTAND
This Massachusetts Sheraton mahogany workstand has a rectangular top with cut corners and two compartmented drawers. The ringed pilasters lead into tapering, reeled legs with ringed cuffs.

Early 19th Century Desks: CANADIAN DROP-FRONT DESK, GERMAN PEDESTAL DESK, FRENCH CLERK’S DESK, BIEDERMEIER CYLINDER BUREAU, FRENCH DIRECTOIRE CYLINDER DESK, AMERICAN FEDERAL DESK

DESKS GENERALLY TENDED TO BE Of two
forms: flat- or slant-topped. Neither of these types were new in the early 19th century. Of the former, which were generally intended for a library, several outstanding examples survive. The Jacob brothers of France provided Napoleon with a flat-topped desk for his study at the Tuileries, which is now at Malmaison. A type of mechanical bureau plat, the box-like top slides back to expose the working surface. It is supported on side pylons formed from paired lion monopodia painted and gilded to simulate bronze.
A late Empire “Ferdinandino” style desk in mahogany survives in the Spanish Royal Palace in Madrid. With a leather top, which is typical of flat-topped desks of the period, it is supported on gilt swans linked by a platform stretcher. Chippendale the Younger’s desk for Sir Richard Colt Hoare at Stourhead demonstrates a British variation of this type. Unusually,
the top of the desk is rounded and has Egyptian mask pilasters running around all sides.
Slant-fronted bureaux were still produced, particularly in provincial centres in Britain and the United States. The cylinder bureau, which had a rounded fall that pushed upwards into the carcase of the piece remained popular on the Continent, particularly in the north. The cliatol in Denmark was a variation with a cabinet above it. Similar bureau-cabinets were produced in Britain, as was a much smaller desk called the Davenport. In some instances the slant provided the actual writing surface rather than covering it, while others were made with a piano-top style. They are thought to be named after a version made by Gillows for a Captain Davenport. Other small desks, , were in vogue on both sides of the channel. The secretaire a abottant continued to be popular, especially in France.

The ebony inlay takes the form of leaf sprays and geometric motifs.
Each side panel hasa lion’s head brass ring pull.
The frieze has three drawers.
Arched bracket lion’s paw foot.
ENGLISH REGENCY DESK
This shaped rectangular pedestal desk has a black gilt-tooled leather writing surface and is decorated around the edges with ebony inlay depicting sprays of leaves and geometric motifs. The frieze has three drawers to the front above
a kneehole, flanked on either side by a door enclosing three drawers. The reverse of the desk has three conforming frieze drawers and cupboard doors enclosing a shelf. The case stands on eight arched bracket lion’s-paw feet.
c.1820.

AMERICAN SLANT-FRONT DESK
This Federal maple and tiger-maple slant-front desk from New England has a moulded slope front with a fitted interior and four long graduated drawers. There is a moulded base and the case sits on French feet. The secondary wood is white pine. c.1800.

FRENCH DIRECTOIRE CYLINDER DESK
This roll-top desk has a white marbled galleried top above three frieze drawers. The panelled fall opens to reveal a fitted interior with small drawers and a leather-inset brushing slide. The desk is raised on turned, tapered legs, ending in toupie feet. c.1800.
ITALIAN LIFT-TOP DESK
This desk has a lift-top with iron strap hinges and lock that folds back to reveal a fitted interior. The desk is supported on canted, scrolled ends with carved supports. Early 19th century.

AMERICAN FEDERAL DESK
The slant front of this Federal cherry-wood clerk’s desk encloses a fitted interior of four drawers and valanced compartments on both sides of a central, shell-carved, prospect door flanked by two document drawers. Below is a single long drawer. Early 19th century.
SWEDISH PAINTED DESK
This is a late Gustavian painted desk, with a wide overhanging rectangular writing surface above three reeded frieze drawers. Each pedestal has three graduated short drawers, again reeded, and is raised on a narrow
plinth with block feet. 1800-20.
BIEDERMEIER CYLINDER BUREAU
FRENCH CLERK’S DESK
This German walnut-veneered cylinder desk has a frieze drawer above the roll-top and two long drawers below. The front opens to reveal a fitted interior with six small drawers and compartments. The case is supported on square-section tapering legs. c.1820.
This mahogany desk has a three-quarter gilt-metal gallery and a leather inset slope. There is a gilt-metal mounted frieze with a drawer above a grille door and sides with folio divisions, flanked by turned columns. The desk is raised above a platform with square supports on bun feet.

GERMAN PEDESTAL DESK
This pedestal writing table is covered with cherry wood veneer. The rectangular top has a higher, moulded edge to the back and sits above one long and two short frieze drawers with locks. Either side of the kneehole, the
deep, rectilinear pedestals have unusual tapered doors with applied moulding above, which give the piece an architectural feel. The interiors of the pedestals are fitted with shelving. The whole piece is supported on a plinth base. c.1825.
CANADIAN DROP-FRONT DESK
This rare Quebec pine desk has a fall front, which opens to reveal a fitted interior. On either side of a central cubbyhole are three wide, graduated drawers, and above it is a series of pigeonholes. The case has three long
drawers and is supported on a moulded plinth. The exterior of the desk has been stripped, but still bears traces of its original paint finish. c.1820

SOFAS IN THE EARLY 19th century: ENGLISH REGENCY SOFA, DANISH DAY BED, AUSTRIAN BIEDERMEIER SOFA, AMERICAN SHERATON SOFA, FRENCH EMPIRE CANAPE.

SOFAS IN THE EARLY 19th century
reached new levels of comfort. Except for the rusbank in the Cape, they were nearly always entirely upholstered, often in silk damask. As a result, the antique motifs that were frequently used on the open backs of chairs of this period were confined to the uprights and top rails of sofas. Similarly because of their weight, the use of splayed legs was less common on sofas than on chairs. At the beginning of the period, the sofa sides tended to be straight or were carved with Neoclassical motifs such as sphinxes. Later, they began to scroll outwards; the sides of a William IV sofa, for example, were often S-shaped.
During the early 19th century there was a revived interest in the day bed and chaise longue. These elegant pieces had a scrolling form and were specifically designed for reclining. They were intended for use in a
drawing room or lady’s bedroom and often had outsplayed legs with brass cappings and casters.
Typically of French Restauration design, the meridienne is a type of canape with two scroll arms, one higher than the other. In Denmark, where people still dined on sofas, meridiennes usually had cupboards on the sides where utensils and glasses could be stored. Because of the nature of their use and the ease with which they could be chipped, sofas were more often made from plain wood rather than completely created in gilt.
As the upholstered surfaces of sofas are particularly susceptible to wear and tear, it is unusual to find pieces from this time with their original
fabrics. Authentic textiles included velvets, silks, damasks, and chintzes. Sprung seats were introduced in this period, bringing a new level of comfort to seating furniture.

The squab cushion provides extra comfort.
The canape has four straight legs at the front and four sabre legs at the back.
Carved sphinx detail
The moulded top rail
has carved lions’
heads at the comers.
The sphinxes have female heads and wings, which form the armrests of the canape.
FRENCH EMPIRE CANAPE
The padded back of this three-seater canape has a straight, moulded top rail, which continues down to form two of the back legs. The front legs and arms are carved in the form of Egyptian sphinxes and terminate in lion’s-paw feet. The
canape seat and back are upholstered in tan suede with black and tan piping and braid. Attributed to the Jacob brothers, this is part of a large suite comprising two canapes, six armchairs, and a pair of stools. c.1800.

This meridienne sofa is typical of its kind, in having one end slightly higher than the other, and is probably French. It is veneered with rosewood and the plinth, supports, and feet are decoratively inlaid with stylized arabesques and
scrolling foliate motifs in a lighter wood. The seat, back, and sides of the piece are generously padded and upholstered in a Neoclassical striped fabric in light green, cream, and gold. The scrolling supports and plinth are supported on volute feet. c.1830.
SWEDISH SOFA
This large, wide, solid sofa has a gently shaped top rail with simple moulding and applied, gilded rosettes at the centre. The form of the sofa is almost entirely rectilinear, with rectangular padded armrests and eight wide,
square-section legs standing on block feet. The seat is upholstered in a striped fabric and is supported on a deep, plain seat rail decorated at intervals with applied rosettes. The sofa is based on a design by Carl Fredrik Sundvall for Skottorp, a manor house in Blekinge, Sweden.
This simulated rosewood and gilt-metal mounted chaise longue has a scrolled three-quarter back and ends and sabre legs. Early 19th century.

SWEDISH PAINTED SETTEE
AMERICAN SHERATON SOFA
This late Gustavian painted and upholstered settee has a rectangular back with three loose cushions. The side panels have circular turned supports, flanking central cross-form supports a frieze with Neoclassical decoration.
The upholstered cushion seat is supported on a carved laurel-leaf frieze and raised on 16 slender, circular, turned legs with long leaf banding. 1800 -10.
This small, inlaid mahogany and flame birch sofa has a sloping top rail with a central raised tablet. The tablet has a contrasting ellipse within an inlaid outline. The edge of the top rail is capped with reeding, which continues
on the downsloping arms. Each arm rests on a reeded baluster support and is supported on tapering, reeded legs. The legs are headed by inlaid panels and terminate in spade feet.
Early 19th century.

AMERICAN NEOCLASSICAL SOFA
This carved mahogany sofa, from the Mid Atlantic States, has a shaped top rail with S-shaped corners, and back-scrolled arms. The upholstered back, sides, and seat are raised on a bolection seat rail, which is supported
on lion’s-paw feet, richly carved with foliage at the knees. The upholstery is not original. Early 19th century.
AUSTRIAN BIEDERMEIER SOFA
This Viennese sofa has a walnut-veneered, partially ebonized frame, and an upholstered seat, arms, and back. It has a high, straight back and outswept, scrolling arms, and is raised on four splayed legs. The upholstery
has a striped, floral design. It has a notably lighter effect than the Anglo-French examples. 1820-30.
The rectangular back of this rosewood-framed Regency sofa has a leaf-carved cresting above square, upholstered arms with moulded terminals. The sofa has a squab seat and is raised on a channel-moulded seat rail. The
whole stands on turned, reeded, tapering feet with brass caps and casters. 1820-30.
DANISH DAY BED
This Danish Louis XVI elmwood day bed has a rectangular, upholstered seat between outscrolled, vertical, slat armrests. With a bolster cushion at either end, the day bed is raised on six square, tapered, and fluted
legs. Unlike a chaise longue, a day bed does not have a back. c.1800.
ENGLISH REGENCY SOFA

Antiques Recently Found on Antcollectors (1)

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL
THE FURNITURE OF THE IBERIAN
peninsular during the early 19th century was strongly influenced by prevailing styles in other European countries, mixed with the various tastes, techniques, and regional differences that reflect both Spain and Portugal’s cultural backgrounds.
The greatest foreign influence was the French Empire style. Spain was dominated by France for a period following the abdication of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII in 1808, when Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte, introduced a taste for Empire furniture. A similar Francophile furniture style also developed in Portugal, which had come under French rule the previous year.
FERDINANDINO
However, the true flowering of the Empire style in Spain only occurred after Napoleon’s fall. It consequently bears the name Ferdinandino after Ferdinand VII, who reigned from 1814 to 1833. Less sophisticated and clumsier than French pieces, the Spanish variants are usually made of mahogany, with carved gilt decoration instead of gilt-bronze mounts. Classical motifs were preferred, especially figurative devices such as putti or swans. These are epitomized on the typical Gondola chairs, which had legs featuring swans or dolphins. Similarly, the king’s desk in the Royal Palace, Madrid, is made of mahogany supported on carved gilt swans.
The Spanish love of walnut, pine, cedar, and olive wood is also evident in pieces with relatively little decoration and few appliques. Overall, like contemporary Portuguese work, the pieces are heavier than true Empire furniture and often of slightly exaggerated proportions. Spanish pieces from the south also feature an occasional motif echoing Spain’s exotic Moorish past.
Although France was the predominant cultural dynamo, British, German, and Italian influences are all discernable in Spanish furniture of this period. The presence of British cabinet-makers on the island of Minorca helped to diffuse the principles of British Neoclassical design, while 18th-century ties with Naples generated Italianate forms.
With the accession of Isabella (1833-70), and the development of the so-called Isabellino style, a more romantic trend emerged in Spain, which revived many of its historical furniture types, particularly Baroque. As such, it corresponded to the style of the Second Empire in France.
PORTUGAL
In the opening years of the 19th century, British Neoclassical style reigned supreme in Portugal. The French occupation introduced a ponderous version of the Empire style, but when power returned to General Beresford in 1811, so too did a preference for Regency design. Trafalgar chairs were most popular, while the engravings of Sheraton continued to be influential.
Portuguese furniture production experienced a downturn from this time onwards: with the return of Dom Joao VI from Brazil, political and social instability was accompanied by general economic decline. This reached its peak with the civil strife under Maria II de Gloria (1828-53).
Portuguese furniture is characterized by the use of South American timbers, particularly those from the Brazilian forests, such as jacaranda and
pausanto. These woods are easy to carve and allow sharp details, so carving is more common on Portuguese furniture than its French or British prototypes. However, the furniture produced in Lisbon tends to be far heavier and altogether simpler than the examples that inspired them. Generally, some fine-quality furniture was produced, such as the mahogany and gilt-brass mounted suite supplied for one of the bedrooms at the Royal Palace of Queluz.
From the 1830s, when Maria
II’s consort, Ferdinand of SachsenCoburg-Saalfeld, began building the Pena Palace, the German Biedermeier style became popular.
Portugal’s strong colonial ties with India and the Far East ensured that much colonial furniture was also imported, particularly from Goa and the Malabar Coast. Often simplified versions of European styles carved in Eastern hardwoods, they tend to echo 18th-century styles rather than reflect the latest European trends.

PORTUGUESE COLONIAL CABINET
The cabriole legs are joined by a wave-shaped cross-stretcher with a central urn finial in the centre.
The cabinet terminates in claw-and-ball feet. Early 19th century.
NEOCLASSICAL SIDE CHAIRS
These side chairs are part of a set of four. They have mahogany frames with parcel gilt decoration. A scrolled top rail sits above a rectangular backrest. The seat rails are plain, but mounted with gilt rosettes. The chairs stand on circular, tapered legs. Early 19th century.

DINING CHAIRS
These Spanish chairs are made of walnut and form part of a set of ten dining chairs. Each chair is decorated with mask finials. The seat back comprises two vertical rows of turned spindles – the upper row is of widely spaced,
long spindles, and the lower forms a tightly spaced decorative border. The leather seats are attached to the frames with brass studs, and the seat rails are shaped and decorated. The chairs stand on ring-turned, reeded legs, which are joined by an H-stretcher. Early 19th century
MALLORCAN COMMODE
This marquetry commode, one of a pair, is made from mahogany, fruitwood, and rosewood. The rectangular, white marble top rests above a convex frieze drawer, which is inlaid with scrolling leaves, and three drawers, that are
inlaid sans traverse. The drawers are flanked by canted scrolled angles, which are also decorated with leaf inlay. At the base of the commode is an inlaid concave-fronted drawer above a banded rim and acanthus-carved feet.

Antiques Recently Found on Antcollectors (2)  Russian Furniture

FROM THE 18TH CENTURY, Russia had
been turning her attention to the West for cultural inspiration, and this continued in the opening decades of the 19th century. However, unlike elsewhere in Europe, the Empire style did not make inroads through the imposition of a member of Bonaparte’s family or through French control.
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 had devastated the land, yet the period is marked by a flowering of the arts and economic recovery. Indeed, the Mikhailovsky, Winter, and Yelagin palaces were supplied with important Empire-style suites during the reign of Tsar Alexander I (1801-25).
FOREIGN INFLUENCE
Since the time of Catherine 11 (r.1762-96), furniture had been imported from Western Europe, particularly France, but also Britain and Germany. Architects, too, were brought over. By the time of Alexander I (r.1801-25), architects such as the Swiss, Thomas de Thomon, and the Italians, Carlo Rossi and Giacomo Antonio Domenico Quarenghi, were introducing the strict Neoclassical style prevalent elsewhere in Europe. They continued the work of Rastrelli, Rinaldi, and the Scot, Charles Cameron, in the urban development of St Petersburg and its outlying palaces.
They provided designs for local craftsmen, which were also taken up by local architects, such as Zacharov.
The furniture for the White Hall of the Mikhailovsky Palace was designed by Rossi and supplied by the Russian Bobkov brothers. Architectural in
detail and conception, the pieces epitomized French style and were covered in wreaths, rosettes, and other Empire motifs.
Pavlovsk Palace was rebuilt by the Russian architect, Andrei Voronikhin, after extensive damage
during the Napoleonic
wars. He was also a
consummate designer
of furniture. One particular chair –made for the Tsar’s summer residence, Tsarkoye Selo, in 1804 – is often associated with his name. It has sphinx monopodiae legs that rise, uninterrupted, into the winged arm supports. Not only does this chair demonstrate the vogue for Empire furniture and ancient Egyptian motifs, but it anticipates Biedermeier chairs, which conceal the link between the arm and the leg.

Russian furniture; England, especially the designs of Thomas Sheraton, also played an important part.
NATIVE TIMBERS
Much fine Russian furniture of this period, with its simplicity, symmetry, and love of boil clairs, is difficult to distinguish from Central European pieces. Mahogany was probably imported, but birch came from the forests near Karelia in Finland. Poplar, olive wood, and sandalwood were also fashionable, as were inlays in contrasting stones. The
marble was often Russian,
such as that from Siberia
or the famous green malachite, which could be cut into such thin veneers that it was used on curved surfaces.
METAL FURNITURE
Timber was frequently gilded and patinated to simulate metal, particularly bronze, but some furniture was also made in metal. A rich tradition of steel furniture was produced by the Arsenal at Tula, and some pieces were made entirely of gilt-bronze. Gueridons might be entirely metal, sometimes
with malachite tops and in-curved supports with eagles’ heads. One of the most lavish gilt-bronze items was the dressing table supplied to the
Mikhailovsky Palace. With a blue smalt (silica glass) table top, the piece is a riot of antique motifs, from sphinxes to cornucopiae
STYLISTICDIVERSITY
After the mid 1820s, the Neo-Gothic style became fashionable, along with a plethora of other revivalist styles,
including Rococo. Later, in the second quarter of the 19th century, furniture designers began to look back to Russia`s own traditions and folklore for
inspiration, designing pieces a la ruse. These modes were popularized by architects such as A. Staken-Schneider, and the Tour furniture shop. Typical chairs with pierced, rounded backs survive in the dining room at the Arkangelskoe, near Moscow. The design is thought to reflect traditional 17th-century Russian architecture.

GOTHIC SIDE TABLE
This Gothic-style side table is made of silver alloy and has a veined white marble top. The frieze is designed to look like a series of Gothic ogee arches: these are decorated with acanthus leaves and have a trefoil set
within each lunette. The corners of the frieze are embellished with foliate capitals set on slender quatrefoil column stems. The table stands on a rectangular base plinth decorated with an elaborate lattice of quatrefoils.
Lacquered brass decoration adds colour to an otherwise austere-looking piece. c.1820.
CENTRE TABLE
This centre table is made of birch. The circular marble top has a raised rim and reeded edge above a chamfered frieze. The table top is raised on a leaf-clasped column with three anthropomorphic legs and paw feet with sunken casters. Early 19th century.
NEOCLASSICAL CONSOLE TABLE
This Empire console table has a rectangular marble top above a richly carved frieze with a stylized rosette at each corner. Each of the four legs is a carved monopodia surmounted by a female head. Early 19th century.

MAHOGANY-FRAMED SOFA
CONSOLE DESSERT
Scroll-carved terminal
This sofa has an ornately scrolled top rail carved with anthemion motifs and downswept solid arms with scroll-carved terminals. The seat and back are upholstered and are raised on sabre front and rear legs. Early 19th century.
This gilt-bronze and brass-mounted mahogany demi-lune console dessert has an upper section with three tiers, each with pierced galleries, and a frieze with brass fluted stiles. The columnar supports are joined by a tiered platform stretcher on block feet. Early 19th rentury.
EMPIRE ARMCHAIR
This mahogany and ormolu-mounted armchair has a rectangular panelled top rail above a pierced back splat with military motifs. The chair has distinctive sphinx-head monopodia legs, and the wings of the sphinxes form the arm supports. Early
19th century. Bk
MAHOGANY ARMCHAIRS
These mahogany chairs have carved top rails and leather-upholstered seats and backs. The armrests and arm supports are formed from one sweeping curve. The tapering seat is supported on a straight seat rail. The chairs are decorated with brass inlay throughout and supported on sabre legs.

Antiques Recently Found on Antcollectors (3) - Scandinavia

THE GREAT BRITISH VICTORIES of Abukir
(1798) and Trafalgar (1805), which opened up trade along the North Sea coastline, suggest that sympathy for Britain and British design could be evident in Scandinavian furniture. This was not always the case. Denmark and Sweden’s ambivalence to France encouraged the British Prime Minister, Pitt, to destroy the Danish fleet and bombard Copenhagen, creating much animosity towards the British. This affected trade and shipping and left the Danish-Norwegian economy at the point of bankruptcy in 1813.
So, although there are traces of British Neoclassicism in early 19th-century Scandinavian furniture, it was often due either to the residual effect of late 18th-century design, or it had filtered through the influence of north German cabinet-making.
The one positive outcome of these hostilities was that local craftsmen were protected from British competition and were encouraged to develop their own workshops and styles. As in the rest of Europe, the Empire style predominated, although it had marked local characteristics.
DANISH EMPIRE
A traditional preference for simplicity, and the need for frugality as a result of war and financial hardship, gave rise to a version of the prevailing French style called Danish Empire, which was taken up by three of the Scandinavian countries. Although mahogany was
favoured, and was used in the larger, wealthier cities, it was difficult to obtain due to war. As a result, the Danish Empire style made use of light local woods, such as alder, maple, ash, and birch, which could be polished to look like satinwood. Mahogany furniture did reappear after 1815, and was generally veneered on pine rather than oak pieces.
Danish furniture was often inlaid with contrasting woods, such as citrus, rather than having ormolu mounts. Inlaid lunettes and arched details were popular, as was the occasional pressed brass or giltwood detail.
One of the most distinctive chairs produced in Denmark was the klismos chair, designed by Nicolai Abilgaard in 1800 and now in the Copenhagen
Museum of Decorative Arts. Similar
to a chair later designed by the sculptor Hermann Freund (now in the Fredericksborg Castle), it mimics the ancient Greek original.
The Danish custom of using one room as a combined dining room, drawing room, and study at this time resulted in some unique types
of furniture. One of these, the Chatol, consisted of a cylinder bureau with a retractable writing slide, surmounted by cupboards for storing cutlery and glassware. Another was a divan, which had cupboards in the sides.
HETSCH STYLE
In Denmark, the Neoclassical style lasted into the 1840s, thanks to the late Empire style popularized by Gustav Friedrich Hetsch. Hetsch had studied with Charles Percier in Paris earlier in the century, returning to Copenhagen to direct the porcelain factory. He was also a designer and his works were often scholarly reproductions of antique prototypes. This style, which favoured the use of carved appliques and mouldings over mounts, is sometimes confusingly called Christian VIII after the Danish king who reigned from 1839 to 1848.
SWEDEN
Sweden was slightly more francophile in its tastes than Denmark, particularly in Court circles. The furniture in the Yellow Room at Rosendal Castle in Stockholm, created for the king in the 1820s, is closer to true French Empire style than any furniture produced in Scandinavia during the early 19th
century It was designed by Lorenz Wilhelm Lundelius, the leading craftsman in Stockholm.
A famous secretaire, made by Johan Pettey Berg in 1811, demonstrates how Swedish cabinet-makers absorbed German heaviness, combined it with Empire motifs (such as white marble pilasters), and added the occasional British reference, such as the Sheraton-inspired inlaid shell.
The Hetsch style eventually arrived in Sweden, but it did not become dominant because Neo-Gothic had taken hold there quite early Indeed, by 1828, there was already a room decorated in the Gothic style in the Royal palace in Stockholm.

BIEDERMEIER LOVE SEAT
This mahogany, Biedermeier-style love seat has a solid, rectangular form with outswept arms. The back and sides of the seat have brass-moulded panels and fan spandrels. The arms have rosette terminals and mahogany
facings. The seat rail has brass mounts and is supported on verdigris brackets, carved in the shape of drapery. The piece terminates in massive gilt and verdigris claw-and-ball front feet. The love seat has an upholstered back, sides, and seat. Early 19th century.

SWEDISH SECRETAIRE
The tall, flame-veneered case of this Swedish Empire secretaire has tapering sides. The upper section of the case has a fall front positioned beneath a shallow drawer. The lower section consists of three graduated drawers; the bottom
drawer has a cut-away arched shape. The piece is raised on rectangular block feet. This secretaire is made in the style of furniture from towards the end of the period and is a move away from the Empire style. It was possibly made by J.C. Reher. 1841.

DANISH ARMCHAIR
The substantial hooped-back, upholstered backrest of this mahogany armchair is raised on curved supports. The upholstered seat has square, tapered legs at the front and sabre legs at the rear. Early 19th century.
EVE LATE GUSTAVIAN ARMCHAIR
This Swedish gilt-and-painted armchair has an upholstered seat and back, a curved top rail with lion’s head terminals, and carved, down-sweeping arms. The padded seat is supported on a carved seat rail and is raised on turned and fluted legs at the front and sabre legs at the rear. Early 19th century.
LADY’S WORKTABLE
This late Gustavian Swedish worktable has an oval, galleried top above a single frieze drawer. The table top is supported on tapering legs terminating in brass caps and casters and joined by a shaped cross-stretcher.

BIEDERMEIER FURNITURE

THE TERM “BIEDERMEIER” covers the wide spectrum of simple, Classical, handcrafted, functional furniture made between 1805 and 1850, which was made at the same time as furniture in the Empire style (see p.212). While the nobility furnished their formal rooms with Empire furniture, the more
private parts of their houses and mansions were furnished in the Biedermeier style, which was favoured by the wealthy middle classes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Scandinavia.
Political unrest in the German states in the early 19th century created a general feeling of uncertainty and increasing poverty. As a result, people withdrew into the privacy of their own homes, and the middle classes in particular began to take an increasing interest in furnishings.
MODEST STYLE
Biedermeier furniture typically had straight lines and lacked decorative carvings. Motifs inspired by Classical designs, such as columns, gables, egg and dart, and bead and reel details
were all popular.
The cupboard door is decorated with an arched panel.
From about 1830, designs incorporated scrolled forms: chairs often had splayed legs, sofas had arched backs, and moulded cornices were used as ornament for writing cabinets.
POPULAR WOODS
The most fashionable woods for Biedermeier furniture were mahogany which was imported and, therefore, rather too expensive for this essentially middle-class style, and also less costly local woods such as walnut, cherry,
pear, birch, and ash, combined with dark elm and thuyawood. The grain of the wood was the most important decorative feature. The natural grain of the veneer was emphasized with various pyramidal or fountain-like shapes. Root veneers of acorn, burr-walnut, and elm were also popular because of their varied colour and attractive markings. Darker woods were frequently used as borders around diamond-shaped keyholes, block feet, or cornices.
RESTRAINED INTERIORS Biedermeier interiors were modestly furnished, and the emphasis was on practicality and comfort, rather than decoration. The furniture was moderate in size, rounded in shape, comfortable, and homely.
Many pieces had a counterpart –another piece that was similar in size – to balance the furnishing of the room. The secretaire with a fall front and the blender, which looked like an imitation secretaire, but was
A typical Biedermeier living room, c.1820-30
This simple Saxon living room is typical of a modest townhouse of the period. The living room was the social centre of the home, and great care was taken with the arrangement of the furniture.
designed for use as a linen press or wardrobe, were very common styles.
An overall colour scheme was a prominent feature of Biedermeier interiors and frequently light-coloured upholstery, curtains, and woods were chosen to create a homely interior with an integrated sense of design.
The advances in manufacturing that occurred during this period did not have much impact until the second half of the century, so early Biedermeier furniture was visibly hand-made. Upholstery was generally flat and square, made of silk or horsehair, and wooden surfaces were simply planed and polished with oil.
By the mid 19th century, the style was seen as comfortable but rather dowdy, and was given the name Biedertmeier, a satirical term that meant “the decent common man”. The name was originally used in a German publication for a fictional middle-class character, and was not intended to be particularly flattering.
The style gradually began to decline in popularity and it was only at the beginning of the 20th century that this negative evaluation began to fade, and Biedermeier-style furniture once again became much sought after. This led in turn to the style being widely copied.
BIEDERMEIER DINING CHAIRS
These chairs are made of solid walnut wood and walnut veneer. The backs are balloon-shaped and have double baluster splats and a shaped top rail. The tapered, upholstered seats are typical of the period and sit above sabre
legs. The chairs are upholstered with a Neoclassical-style striped fabric, probably the original fabric, that is decorated with flowers. 1820
BIEDERMEIER WRITING CABINET
Covered entirely in cherry-wood veneer, this impressive writing cabinet has a fall front that opens to reveal a fitted interior. The inner compartment consists of 11 small drawers flanking a central tabernacle. The lower portion
of the cabinet consists of three large drawers set on simple bracket feet. This practical piece embodies the Biedermeier ethos of comfort and convenience and would have been used in the sitting room, which was the focal point of the home. c.1820.
Pigeonholes provide storage space for letters.
The interior drawers have Ivory handles.
The fall front opens to forma writing surface.
The bottom part of the cabinet is made up of three drawers.
BIEDERMEIER SOFA
The frame of this elegant sofa is scroll-shaped with a slightly raised back. The shape takes its inspiration from Classical pieces, and is typical of the simple, geometric design that was favoured by Biedermeier designers. Ornate carvings and
decoration were not part of the Biedermeier style. The sofa is veneered in cherry wood, which has been blackened in places, using a simple inlay of ebony to accent the flat surface of the wood. The upholstered seat
is coil-sprung for comfort. c.1825.
BIEDERMEIER WALL MIRROR
This mirror frame is architectural in style and is decorated with cherry veneer. The ebonized columns are edged by gilded bases and capitals, which support a Classical-style cornice and pediment. The central mount shows the goddess Diana. 1820 30
BIEDERMEIER WALNUT-VENEERED COMMODE
This commode has a top with an ebonized border above a frieze drawer. A further two recessed drawers are flanked by turned, ebonized columns with gilded Corinthian capitals and feet. The middle drawer is decorated with floral and figural details. 1820 30.
BIEDERMEIER GLAZED CABINET
This birch-veneered cabinet was made in Berlin and has a stepped pediment with a flat top. The oval glazed door panel is decorated with fine wooden spokes emanating from a central sun motif. At the base of the cabinet there is a single drawer with a lock. c.1820.
BIEDERMEIER DINING TABLE
Made in southern Germany, this simple dining table is veneered in cherry wood with a star pattern on the table top. Some of the veneer is blackened to add visual interest. The single pedestal terminates in a tripartite base.
c.1830.

see also biedermeier art  deco desk kidney shape
biedermeier art deco desk bureau
biedermeier bedside commode chest
biedermeier furniture swedish drop front desk
biedermeier glass kaendler
biedermeier love seat sweden
biedermeier reproduction desk
biedermeier style doors
biedermeir interiors

authentic biedermeier mouldings

antiques clock index vienna biedermeier