19th century Biedermeier desk, South Germany 1820

The cabinet maker used beautiful walnut veneer on the outside of the 19th century Biedermeier desk. The interior opens with a fall top to a central compartment and is embellished with mahogany veneer. Furthermore, two Doric columns with brass bases and capitals frame the central compartment, and eight drawers surround it.

Historical Background

The early 19th-century Biedermeier style marks the transitional period between Neoclassicism and Romanticism.
The term Biedermeier was constructed from the titles of two poems—”Biedermanns Abendgemütlichkeit” (Biedermann’s Evening Comfort) and “Bummelmaiers Klage”(Bummelmaier’s Complaint).
Joseph Victor von Scheffel had published the poems in 1848 in the Munich journal Fliegende Blätter. As a result, the term has been used since around 1900.

Above all, the “Biedermeier” society concentrated on the domestic and (at least in public) the non-political.
As a consequence, the emphasis on home life for the growing middle-class meant a blossoming of furniture design and interior decorating.

Family life, letter writing (giving prominence to the writing table) and the pursuit of hobbies had priority.

Biedermeier furniture was mostly produced in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in Germany. Stylistically, Biedermeier furniture softened the rigidity of the Empire style. The cabinet makers used light, native woods and avoided the use of metal ornamentation.

Details of this secretaire

The secretaire offered here,  is in very good condition. It has been refinished a couple of years ago. There is one shrinkage veneer crack on the outside of the writing flap.

It measures 61.82 x 40.95 x 19.69 inches.

Please contact us by email, call us for any additional information about this piece. Also compare our other Biedermeier fall top desks.