At 1stDibs, there are many versions of the ideal vienna biedermeier for your home. Frequently made of
wood,
metal and
hardwood, every vienna biedermeier was constructed with great care. There are many kinds of the vienna biedermeier you’re looking for, from those produced as long ago as the 18th Century to those made as recently as the 20th Century. When you’re browsing for the right vienna biedermeier, those designed in
Empire styles are of considerable interest. A well-made vienna biedermeier has long been a part of the offerings for many furniture designers and manufacturers, but those produced by
Viennese Imperial Porcelain Manufactory,
Viennese Manufactory and
Imperial Vienna Porcelain are consistently popular.
A vienna biedermeier can differ in price owing to various characteristics — the average selling price 1stDibs is $3,185, while the lowest priced sells for $722 and the highest can go for as much as $104,400.
The authentic Biedermeier furniture on 1stDibs is representative of the first modern European decorative style not dictated by the tastes of the aristocracy. Following the Napoleonic wars, a growing, wealthy urban middle class in the German-speaking states of Central Europe began to demand rights and privileges once granted only to nobles. To avoid trouble, the upwardly striving confined their political discussions to one another’s homes. And so the salon was born.
Cabinetmakers in cities such as Vienna, Berlin and Mainz began to offer goods that reflected the tastes and needs of the new class. The makers of Biedermeier chairs, tables and other furniture used little or no gilding, silver hardware or other lavish ornament. Ebonized trims are common on Biedermeier cabinetry, and neoclassical elements — lyre-shaped chair splats, carved scrollwork, table supports shaped like Greek columns. But the strongest aesthetic statement came from the wood — richly-grained, honey-colored, often book-matched veneers of walnut and fruitwood.
There are two iconic Biedermeier furniture forms, both made to outfit rooms designed for conversation. One is the sofa, deeply upholstered with a strong, architectural wooden frame. The second is the circular pedestal table, which stood at the center of the room, offering a surface on which to place coffee and cake services; or to roll out a map, or sketch out ideas on paper.
“Biedermeier” was originally a derogatory term — it derives from the pen names of two German magazine writers who mocked bourgeois manners. Looking at the elegant and refined antique, new and vintage Biedermeier furniture offered on 1stDibs, that is now an amusing irony.