FURNITURE
OUR PIECE oF THE MONTH
Writing Closet
Late Biedermeier, around 1835
Birch veneered on softwood
Marquetry in Mahogany
and maple in the writing compartment
Width 96 cm (37.8 inches)
Depth 50 cm (19.7 inches)
Heigth 172 cm (67.7 inches)
Price: on request
Description
This piece is a davenport which is veneered with variegated
birch. It has three drawers underneath the desktop, one above and another one
in the crown area. The corpus is flanked by two small three-quarter columns in
birch. The writing compartment is divided into a central compartment and ten surrounding
drawers. The inner trays are veneered with variegated maple and framed with inlays
from mahogany. The inner compartment is richly decorated with reflecting sides,
six antique-style columns, one mosaicked shelve and a gable with a Marquetry in
mahogany.
The middle compartment can be taken off and behind it are 5 secret drawers. |
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Historic Context:
This kind of davenport originated from the 18th century and is the parade furniture
of its time. This piece belongs to the “Biedermeier” era.
This davenport with its numerous drawers, storages and secret trays gave the then
craftsmen all opportunities to demonstrate his skills and ingeniousness. As a
kind of “shrine” this furniture retains little and big secrets of
its owner and was the symbol for tidiness, education and letter-writing. |
