Rare Biedermeier lyre-shaped desk

Vienna, circa 1820/25. Made in walnut-veneered softwood, the lower section with concave sides, with a maple cornice drawer, a later stepped single-door upper section in the shape of a temple with gold painted caryatids at the angles, the gable with bronze mounts in the form of a sun. The desk has a hinged writing surface with a crossbanded veneer of bird’s eye maple, the front with double crossbanded walnut veneer, the tapering central section flanked by fully carved putti, as if supporting the body of the desk, as well as fabulous creatures, in ebonised and gold-painted finish. The fitted interior is veneered mostly in maple, and decorated on both sides with India ink painting, the central niche lined with a mirror, also with a portico and columns, with various drawers and doors with spring mechanisms, a restored sliding compartment with a secret compartment below. The lower section has two doors, a gold painted acanthus leaf border and parcel gilt bronze mounts. Ca. 176 x 98 x 47 cm. Some small wood losses or replacements, some ageing and wear. (DOC)

This substantial writing desk belongs to the tradition of the lyre-desks of the Empire or Biedermeier periods, which were known for this type of form. This type of furniture originated in Vienna, so that the geographical influence was limited to the German and Hungarian areas. The wide repertoire of forms of these extremely rare writing desks is all the more interesting therefore – they were regarded as extremely challenging pieces for the master cabinet makers of the first third of the 19th century. A desk of similar design but of an earlier date can be found in the Nagytétény Castle Museum (part of the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest). Here too, the grotesque figures are an essential element of the desk.

See Lit.:
Ferenc Batári - Erzsébet Vadászi, The Art of Furniture - Making from the Gothik to the Biedermeier, Nagytétény-Museum, fig. XXX, Budapest 2000.

Josef Folnesics, Innenräume und Hausrat der Empire – und Biedermeierzeit in Österreich – Ungarn, Bildtafel 32, Kunstverlag Anton Schroll, Vienna 1922

Photo: Nagytétény - Schlossmuseum (Part of the Museum for Applied Arts in Budapest)