What is Biedermeier furniture made from?

What is Biedermeier furniture made from?

Biedermeier furniture used locally available materials such as cherry, ash, and oak woods rather than the expensive timbers such as fully imported mahogany.

What does the name Biedermeier mean?

: of a style of unostentatious furniture and interior decoration popular especially with the middle class in early 19th century Germany.

Where does the name Biedermeier come from?

Following the Napoleonic sieges, the Biedermeier style grew during a period of economic impoverishment from 1825 to 1835. The name Biedermeier was derogatory because it was based on the caricature “Papa Biedermeier,” a comic symbol of middle-class comfort.

What is Biedermeier art?

The term “Biedermeier” (in use since around 1900) refers to the style of German Art of the 19th Century that flourished in painting, interior design and architecture, as Neoclassical art was giving way to Romanticism, that is, between 1815, the year of the Congress of Vienna (which redrew European borders at the end of …

Is Biedermeier furniture valuable?

Biedermeier is arguably undervalued, with beautiful chests and sofas, almost two centuries old and in perfect condition, available for $10,000 to $25,000; even very fine pieces only occasionally exceed $50,000.

What does Biedermeier furniture look like?

Biedermeier furnishings, especially Biedermeier chairs, feature simple lines, visual lightness, elegant curves, and a focus on geometric shapes and wood grain rather than heavy ornamentation and intricate carvings.

How can you tell a Biedermeier?

The typical early Biedermeier chest has an uncluttered geometric appearance featuring straight or gently curved lines and restrained decoration. Before the mid-19th century, a standard chest of drawers consisted of four long or three long and two short drawers.

What is Biedermeier jewelry?

Jewellery from the Biedermeier era takes its bearings in naturalistic and personal themes. At the same time, mourning jewellery as a form of remembrance becomes popular. Because this era takes place at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, precious metals are very scarce, hence, cut steel and iron jewellery are produced.

What was innovative about Biedermeier furnishings?

The wohnzimmer, or living room, as opposed to the traditional formal salon, is a Biedermeier innovation. And the clean, graceful shapes of Biedermeier furniture were aided by improvements in the techniques for wood veneer and bent wood.

What is Biedermeier in literature?

In Central Europe, Biedermeier refers to work in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and interior design 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 preceded it.

When was Biedermeier furniture made?

1815
True Biedermeier is Austro-Hungarian furniture made in the first half of the 19th century, with a specific pedigree associated with the years 1815 – 1830.

Is Biedermeier an Art Deco?

Some Biedermeier pieces, especially the ones that work the contrast between light woods and dark accents, would be quite at home in an Art Deco interior (with the classic influences toned down perhaps a bit). The name “Biedermeier” was originally meant as a mocking one.

How did the Biedermeier style get its name?

The Biedermeier style got its name from a fictional character named Papa Biedermeier. This character appeared in the satirical periodical Munich Fliegende Blätter and personified the cushy life of the middle-class. The middle class appreciated the comforting appeal of the Biedermeier style.

What kind of subjects did Biedermeier write about?

Due to the strict control of publication and official censorship, Biedermeier writers primarily concerned themselves with non-political subjects, like historical fiction and country life. Political discussion was usually confined to the home, in the presence of close friends.

When was the Biedermeier period in Central Europe?

Biedermeier room in the museum of Chrzanów, Poland. The Biedermeier period refers to an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848, during which the middle class grew in number, and arts appealed to common sensibilities.

Where can you see furniture from the Biedermeier era?

The Imperial Furniture Collection has many Biedermeier items, but also full reconstructions of entire rooms with original furniture in the Biedermeier style. The Schottenstift museum also has a room preserved in all its original Biedermeier glory (with furniture).