Sweden had finally abandoned neutrality and fought with Russian and Prussian troops against Napoleon, but it was Jean Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, who became king of Sweden and reigned as Charles XIV John from 1818 - 1844. Although in many ways similar to the style of Hetsch in Denmark, the Empire style in Sweden came nearer to the French original, especially in the hands of the court cabinet-maker in Stockholm, Lorentz Wilhelm Lundelius (1787 - 1859). In the more modest range, a peculiarity of Swedish handmade furniture of this period is that drawer-fronts, when veneered on a pine foundation as they so often are, do not have the top edge masked with a veneer or a 'cock-beading', as is the case with the furniture of most other countries using an otherwise similar construction.
Marquetry was used more extensively during the Empire period than in France and Paris, especially during the earlier years, in place of bronze mounts. Later it was replaced with motifs carved in mahogany and glued to the surface. Less expensive decorations were made in moulds from a mixture of sawdust and glue - an early version of 'plastic wood' that may be seen as a symptom of declining standards.
Denmark and Norway
Early examples of archaeologically inspired, 'second-phase Neoclassical' furniture were designed in Denmark by Nikolai Abraham Abildgaard (1743 - 1809) who had it made for himself around 1800, finding his inspiration in the shapes depicted on Greek vases. In 1807 he produced a scheme, somewhat less academic, for Prince Christian Frederick.
The taste for English styles suffered a traumatic setback as a consequence of the Napoleonic wars, soon after the commencement of which a pact of armed neutrality between Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Norway led to a bombardment of Copenhagen by the British who were anxious that the Danish fleet should not fall into French hands. Norway and Denmark, which had been politically tied, were now separated by the British blockade.
There was, however, one piece of furniture of English type which was very popular in Denmark, in spite of politics. This was the sofa table, a rectangular shape and with a drop leaf supported on hinged brackets at each end. This occasionally stood on four tapered legs but much more often it rested on either a central column or on end supports of 'slab' or lyre form. Danish homes did not normally have rooms set aside for dining. The sofa table stood in front of the sofa and was used for meals, the china for which was kept in a pair of pedestal cupboards, one standing at each end of the sofa. The usual place for storing cutlery was the upper section of the chatol, a bureau-cabinet having a cylinder top to the bureau section and an upper stage of break-front form.
As in France, imported woods became scarce because of the war, and various native timbers took their place; birch, carefully selected and cut, was an excellent understudy for satinwood which came from the East and West Indies, and is often mistaken for it. A taste for using boldly contrasting woods was satisfied by employing burr alder in association with birch - a feature sometimes seen in geometrically designed commodes. The middle drawer in a bank of three is deeper than the other two, and has a lunette-shaped recess set in it, veneered in wood different from the rest. Metal mounts were seldom used and, as in Germany, even handles were commonly regarded as superfluous.
For construction, pine was the main material for carcases, but the better-class pieces were provided with oak drawer linings. the continuing peasant tradition depended almost entirely on pine. In most countries, pine fitted and non fitted furniture has proved vulnerable to woodworm, but apart from a few areas, Norwegian pieces are remarkably free of the pest - probably because of the Norwegian practice of regularly scrubbing all the furniture with soap and water, and removing the eggs of the beetle in the process.
A post-Empire fashion for mahogany furniture gradually spread through Scandinavia, one of the principal designers being Gustav Friedrich Hetsch, professor at the Copenhagen Academy and later (1828 - 1857) director of the Royal Porcelain Factory. He had worked with Percier in Paris and absorbed his scholarly but romantic approach to the late Neoclassical style.
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