Pair of Armchairs, Biedermeier

Style: Biedermeier (1815-1848)

The Biedermeier style is a style that characterizes German and Austrian furniture between approximately 1815 (Congress of Vienna) and 1848 (beginning of the revolutionary movements).
Its main features are essentiality and functionality, and the home destination.
Biedermeier first took on a derogatory connotation: the word derives from "Bieder", or "simpleton" and from "Meir", one of the most common German surnames at the time and was the name of a "simpleton" character in a comedy of Ludwig Eichrodt.
This term meant the conservative petty bourgeois, concerned only with his own family reality.
Even if in a derogatory way, the term represents exactly the new socio-political situation in which the bourgeois is forced or resigned to renounce the yearnings for democracy and freedom.
The center of life therefore becomes the home, no longer characterized by unbridled luxury but comfortable and practical.
Consequently, Biedermeier furniture are functional, comfortable and easily achievable products.
The style is an evolution of the Empire style towards greater simplification, without ornamental and antique elements, lighter, linear and curved shapes, lighter colors.
Find out more about the Biedermeier style with our insights:
Biedermeier, the comfortable and practical style
Biedermeier, when a style d 'furniture transforms an environment
FineArt: group eight Biedermeier applique, Vienna, 1820-1830
FineArt: Biedermeier Reifenluster, Vienna, c. 1820-1830 - Viennese chandelier

Age: 19th Century / 1801 - 1900

19th Century / 1801 - 1900

Main essence: Maple

Hard, light wood used for inlays. It grows mainly in Austria, but it is widespread throughout the northern hemisphere, from Japan to North America, passing through China and Europe. It is one of the lightest woods ever, tending to white, it is similar to lime or birch wood. The briar is used in the production of ancient secretaires .