Two swan symbolize elegance and beauty
On the upper top a white marble with a green perimeter band, below a large rounded drawer in satinwood briar that seems to be part of the upper top. On both sides two carved wood, painted and gilded swans, in the central part three large mahogany veneered drawers.
At the base a boundary band in satinwood briar that rests on a large mahogany base where there are two small mythological figures in the form of winged horses standing on the top of basement. All about spherical feet. This fine chest of drawers differs from traditional Biedermeier drawers’ chest, own a particular style, it is no coincidence that two swan symbolize elegance and beauty.
References
This chest of drawers is described in the book “Il mobile Biedermeier”, published by F. Motta, written by Leonardo Volpini, one of the leading experts in Biedermeier furniture and its history: “A Biedermeier chest of drawers in the shape of an urn, veneered in walnut, wavy front and sides. Lacquered and gilded anthropomorphic friezes. Austria – Hungary around 1830”.
Out of the Ordinary Note: In all likelihood, our chests of drawers was made by the same cabinetmaker, the stylistic differences between the two are minimal; the small seahorses, substitute of the winged horses at the base, the perimeter band at the bottom without rectangular panels, and last, the mahogany veneer instead of walnut is the most apparent difference among these two attractive and rare Biedermeier pieces of furniture.
Biedermeier background
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. It began with the time of the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and ended with the onset of the European Revolutions of 1848. Although the term itself is a historical reference, it is used mostly to denote the artistic styles that flourished in the fields of literature, music, the visual arts and interior design.
The Biedermeier period does not refer to the era as a whole, but to a particular mood and set of trends that grew out of the unique underpinnings of the time in Central Europe. There were two driving forces for the development of the period. One was the growing urbanization and industrialization leading to a new urban middle class, which created a new kind of audience for the arts. The other was the political stability prevalent under Klemens Wenzel von Metternich following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The effect was for artists and society in general to concentrate on the domestic and (at least in public) the non-political. Writers, painters, and musicians began to stay in safer territory, and the emphasis on home life for the growing middle-class meant a blossoming of furniture design and interior decorating.
The continental blockade imposed by Napoleon in 1806 to damage imports from England, limited the use of mahogany in all Europe. This condition forced to use light wood such as satinwood, cherry, ash, oak lemon, birch and more.
Despite the forced preference for light woods, however, Biedermeier furnishings continued to be made of mahogany for the finest furniture until the mid-nineteenth century. During 1815–1830 Biedermeier furniture were most neoclassical in inspiration, most fantastic and extravagant forms were made during the second half of the period (1830–1848).
