Biedermeier chair
The chair of the middle-class home: light wood, a broad top rail and legs that curve out like sabres.
After the Napoleonic Wars the middle classes of Germany and Austria withdrew into the home. Furniture became comfortable and simple, based on Empire forms but without their pomp.
Biedermeier became a model for designers of the early 20th century, who saw its smooth surfaces as modern form before modernism. In Sweden the style corresponds to late Karl Johan furniture.
Materials: Cherry, pear, birch or walnut, often veneered; upholstered seat
Manufacture: Made by urban joiners; the back splat is sawn out and the veneer glued on in large, smooth surfaces.
Light woods with clear figure instead of ornament.
Sabre legs – the legs curve out in an even arc.
A broad, curved top rail, sometimes with a lyre or a fan-shaped piercing.