DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0081
of such furniture was enhanced by the beautifully matched graining of the veneer, usually mahogany,
birch-wood or ash. This Polish version of the French Empire style was popular mainly among the gentry
and bourgeoisie and remained fashionable until the mid-19th century. Though tending to be rather heavy,
it was not lacking in its own specific type of charm, but the sofas, chairs and armchairs were not very
comfortable, the backs going up almost at right angles.
The next style to be adopted in Poland originated in Germany. Known as the Biedermeier style, it
was a cross between the neo-classical and Empire styles with some English influence. The name Biedermeier
was derived from Gottlieb Biedermeier, a comical character in the humorous periodical Fliegende
Blatter. This typically bourgeois style was adopted mainly in furniture and interior decor, although it also
influenced the style of dress and jewelry, and even hair styles. Apart from Germany and Austria, it
spread to Hungary, Bohemia, Denmark, Sweden and Russia, though in each of these countries it had
its specific character. In Poland it was adopted as a matter of course, one might say, because
it resembled the Duchy of Warsaw style, though modelled mostly on the German and Austrian
version. At first it was given the name of Corinthian style. As opposed to Duchy of Warsaw
furniture, Biedermeier sofas, chairs and armchairs were very comfortable, evidently functionality was
given precedence over austere elegance. Complete sets of furniture were ordered for drawingrooms,
consisting of sofas, chairs and armchairs, tables, side-tables and glazed cabinets. This furniture was made
of larch, or other conifer wood, and was veneered with mahogany, ash, elm, walnut, birch-wood, pear,
cherry or yew, with great care being taken to assure that the graining of the veneer was properly matched.
Marquetry work was often used, as well as inlay, usually in ivory or bone, which were also used for drawer
knobs. Locks and brass fittings on the other hand were rather primitive, as was the finish of the inside
of drawers and the backs of cupboards and wardrobes. The most popular type of Biedermeier chairs and
armchairs was Hamburg with its back and legs bent rearwards so as to form a semi-ellipse. The open back
rest had two parallel pieces of wood running across. The cushion seat fitted between the side frames, resting
on transversal bars and arm rests were voluted in shape. The two back panels were the principal decorative
element of Hamburg chairs. They were adorned with marquetry work, carvings in plant motifs, stars
and rosettes. After 1840 upholstered seats were replaced by plaited ones. Hamburg chairs and sofas
modelled on the North German version, which itself was influenced by English furniture styles, were
popular mainly in Little Poland. Another type of chair, which also originated in Germany, had the back
rest in the shape of a fan, palmette, heart, kidney or semi-circle, or else of two outleanmg 'sheafs' connected
by cross-pieces. The Hamburg sofa was simply an armchair extended in breadth with the same rolled
arm rests as armchairs. There were Biedermeier sofas of various type, since the sola was an indispensable
part of a Biedermeier set of furniture. The arm rests could feature abundant carved ornamentation with
the favourite motif of cornucopia or else they would form an extension of the back panel. In the Cracow
type of Biedermeier sofas the back rest was surmounted with a simple 'architectural' cornice, the
Biedermeier bed, in some respects recalling the Empire style, had voluted sides and rested on a broad
plinth. Biedermeier tables were made in a great variety of shapes. At first, the tops were rectangular, later
round or elliptical, resting on a single polygonal leg with a multiangular or triangular base. Tables with
folding end flaps which could be raised to extend the table-top became fashionable somewhat later, probably
under the influence of the English Sheraton style (Thomas Sheraton, furniture designer, 1 7 <> 1 — 1806).
Table legs, joined by a cylindrical cross-piece, were either lyre or X-shaped. Card tables with square gaining
boards lined with green cloth or shammy leather could be folded across to give a rectangular veneered
top. Then there was also a great variety, of side-tables with semi-circular tops and slim, straight legs.
A characteristic piece of furniture was the sewing table. Its top could be raised, disclosing little partitions
and boxes where sewing things were kept. Halfway down the legs it had a shelf with a little bronze or
brass railing. Biedermeier chests of drawers were rectangular in shape, either with two drawers and fairly
long slim legs, or three drawers and thick massive supports. Occasionally, the top drawer had a roller
fronting which when pushed up disclosed a little escritoire. In the period of decline, the front of Biedermeier
commodes had an undulating line. There was a great variety of escritoires, desks, cupboards, corner-cup-
boards, tallboys, and glazed cabinets indispensable in every bourgeois home. The Biedermeier style-
relied mainly on the effect of harmony in the shape and line of furniture and sparse use ol ornamental
motifs which indeed was the cause of its vitality. Secretaires consisted of three basic parts, .1 cupboard with
double door, or alternately two or three drawers, a recess with little drawers covered with a slanting top
which when lowered served to write on and an upper drawer or else a glazed cupboard with a triangular
birch-wood or ash. This Polish version of the French Empire style was popular mainly among the gentry
and bourgeoisie and remained fashionable until the mid-19th century. Though tending to be rather heavy,
it was not lacking in its own specific type of charm, but the sofas, chairs and armchairs were not very
comfortable, the backs going up almost at right angles.
The next style to be adopted in Poland originated in Germany. Known as the Biedermeier style, it
was a cross between the neo-classical and Empire styles with some English influence. The name Biedermeier
was derived from Gottlieb Biedermeier, a comical character in the humorous periodical Fliegende
Blatter. This typically bourgeois style was adopted mainly in furniture and interior decor, although it also
influenced the style of dress and jewelry, and even hair styles. Apart from Germany and Austria, it
spread to Hungary, Bohemia, Denmark, Sweden and Russia, though in each of these countries it had
its specific character. In Poland it was adopted as a matter of course, one might say, because
it resembled the Duchy of Warsaw style, though modelled mostly on the German and Austrian
version. At first it was given the name of Corinthian style. As opposed to Duchy of Warsaw
furniture, Biedermeier sofas, chairs and armchairs were very comfortable, evidently functionality was
given precedence over austere elegance. Complete sets of furniture were ordered for drawingrooms,
consisting of sofas, chairs and armchairs, tables, side-tables and glazed cabinets. This furniture was made
of larch, or other conifer wood, and was veneered with mahogany, ash, elm, walnut, birch-wood, pear,
cherry or yew, with great care being taken to assure that the graining of the veneer was properly matched.
Marquetry work was often used, as well as inlay, usually in ivory or bone, which were also used for drawer
knobs. Locks and brass fittings on the other hand were rather primitive, as was the finish of the inside
of drawers and the backs of cupboards and wardrobes. The most popular type of Biedermeier chairs and
armchairs was Hamburg with its back and legs bent rearwards so as to form a semi-ellipse. The open back
rest had two parallel pieces of wood running across. The cushion seat fitted between the side frames, resting
on transversal bars and arm rests were voluted in shape. The two back panels were the principal decorative
element of Hamburg chairs. They were adorned with marquetry work, carvings in plant motifs, stars
and rosettes. After 1840 upholstered seats were replaced by plaited ones. Hamburg chairs and sofas
modelled on the North German version, which itself was influenced by English furniture styles, were
popular mainly in Little Poland. Another type of chair, which also originated in Germany, had the back
rest in the shape of a fan, palmette, heart, kidney or semi-circle, or else of two outleanmg 'sheafs' connected
by cross-pieces. The Hamburg sofa was simply an armchair extended in breadth with the same rolled
arm rests as armchairs. There were Biedermeier sofas of various type, since the sola was an indispensable
part of a Biedermeier set of furniture. The arm rests could feature abundant carved ornamentation with
the favourite motif of cornucopia or else they would form an extension of the back panel. In the Cracow
type of Biedermeier sofas the back rest was surmounted with a simple 'architectural' cornice, the
Biedermeier bed, in some respects recalling the Empire style, had voluted sides and rested on a broad
plinth. Biedermeier tables were made in a great variety of shapes. At first, the tops were rectangular, later
round or elliptical, resting on a single polygonal leg with a multiangular or triangular base. Tables with
folding end flaps which could be raised to extend the table-top became fashionable somewhat later, probably
under the influence of the English Sheraton style (Thomas Sheraton, furniture designer, 1 7 <> 1 — 1806).
Table legs, joined by a cylindrical cross-piece, were either lyre or X-shaped. Card tables with square gaining
boards lined with green cloth or shammy leather could be folded across to give a rectangular veneered
top. Then there was also a great variety, of side-tables with semi-circular tops and slim, straight legs.
A characteristic piece of furniture was the sewing table. Its top could be raised, disclosing little partitions
and boxes where sewing things were kept. Halfway down the legs it had a shelf with a little bronze or
brass railing. Biedermeier chests of drawers were rectangular in shape, either with two drawers and fairly
long slim legs, or three drawers and thick massive supports. Occasionally, the top drawer had a roller
fronting which when pushed up disclosed a little escritoire. In the period of decline, the front of Biedermeier
commodes had an undulating line. There was a great variety of escritoires, desks, cupboards, corner-cup-
boards, tallboys, and glazed cabinets indispensable in every bourgeois home. The Biedermeier style-
relied mainly on the effect of harmony in the shape and line of furniture and sparse use ol ornamental
motifs which indeed was the cause of its vitality. Secretaires consisted of three basic parts, .1 cupboard with
double door, or alternately two or three drawers, a recess with little drawers covered with a slanting top
which when lowered served to write on and an upper drawer or else a glazed cupboard with a triangular