The Taste Of Reproduction
Biedermeier Style Furniture
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This is just a sample of
100 models of our reproduction
Biedermeier
antiques style furniture
chest of drawers, consoles, chairs, armchairs, secretary,
pedestals, mirrors,
display cabinet
exact copies of originals that is not published for public
for the interest of our importers
Biedermeier refers to work of literature,
music, the visual arts and furniture in the period between the years
1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the
year of the European revolutions and contrasts with the Romantic era
which proceeded it.
It was the age of the Austrian
Chancellor Metternich, Prince Metternich, whose diplomacy and
influence dominated much of the post-Napoleonic period. It was a
period of conservative politics in reaction to the horrors and chaos
of the French Revolution and Napoleons wide-reaching conquests.
Liberalism and popular movements were viewed askant and suppressed. It
was the heyday of the secret police. But it was also a time of great
creativity. Great names like Beethoven, Schubert, Johann Strauss the
Elder and Joseph Lanner dominated the Viennese music scene. Despite
censorship, theatre and literature flourished. It saw growing
industrialisation and the resulting migration from rural to largely
urban life. It was also the beginning of the Railway Age in almost all
European countries.
The Biedermeier period came to an end in the revolutions of 1848. At
the same time the so-called Metternich System of conservative and
diplomatic conferences with the major powers to try and repress or
maintain order by acting concertedly in Europe, also came to an end.
Biedermeier applied at
first in a joking spirit. It is believed to have been named for the
worthy, bourgeois-minded "Papa Biedermeier," a humorous
character featured in a series of verses by Ludwig Eichrodt, published in
Fliegende Blätter. The Biedermeier period found expression in
comfortable, homelike furnishings, simple in design and inexpensive in
material, fitting the requirements of the people in a time of little
wealth following the Napoleonic Wars.
Biedermeier designs were simplified forms of the French Empire and
Directoire styles and of some 18th-century English styles, and were often
elegant in their utilitarian simplicity. Vienna was in many ways a
spiritual and artistic center, strong enough to blend the most varied
impulses into its own synthesis. Already in the production of Empire-style
furniture, the Vienna furniture builders had found their definitive
expression. Their more cherished and fantasy-filled designs differed
clearly from those of French taste and the latter's German derivatives.
Viennese furniture makers worked securely and solidly, which is reflected
in the charming home furnishings of the artisans' best quality. Austrian
furniture is lighter and designed for livability, elegance and private
life. Viennese Biedermeier furniture can be seen more than elsewhere
in its relationship to and partial transition from Empire style, and it
shows itself in especially striking, artistically mature products of high
quality.
In 1816 tere were 875 independent
master cabinetmakers in Vienna, in 1823 already 951. Some ran genuine
factories, the best-known and most influential of them was Josef
Danhauser, who was already employing 100 workers in 1808. Danhauser
sold not only funiture in his factory, but also home furnishings such
as drapes, carpets, clocks and even glassware. The Viennese Museum of
Applied Arts (MAK) has over 2500 of Danhauser's catalogue drawings.
They show the never-ending fantasy and decors.
Nowadays Biedermeier became very
popular due to its timeless design and therefore collectors enjoy
Biedermeier furniture as lasting appreciation. Its high functionality
and simple forms suits today's modern sense of living.