Neoclassicism - Germany and Austria

The greatest German furniture-maker of the Neoclassical period, David Roentgen (1743 - 1807), seldom stamped or signed his products, even though officially required to do so after becoming, under pressure, a member of the Paris guild in 1789. He is often classed with the German cabinet-makers who settled in Paris, but after taking over control the family business at Neuwied, near Coblenz, in 1770, he never transferred his workshops elsewhere. As a very shrewd businessman, was of his first acts was to raise capital by running a lottery with handmade furniture as the prizes, which proved highly successful.

In 1774 he visited Paris for the first time, returning five years later with a large consignment of furniture, and thereafter maintaining a depot in the city from which he supplied his customers including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Both spent huge sums with Roentgen, the King finding something to interest him in the ingenious mechanical contrivances devised for Roentgen by by Peter Kintzing. who also made clocks, and the Queen being attracted to elaborate marquetry based on the careful drawings of Januarius Zick (1730 - 1797).

Roentgen spent much of his time travelling abroad, cultivating his rich customers and setting up other depots. He visited Italy and the Netherlands and made seven trips to Russia, supplying many pieces to the Empress Catherine II. In 1791 he was appointed 'Court Furnisher' to Wilhelm II in Berlin, which helped him to survive the disaster of the French Revolution when he lost not only the vast sums of money owing to him in France, but also the stock he had in store there.

The contrast between early, highly decorated Louis XVI furniture and the much simpler, later style in mahogany relieved only with bronze mounts is clearly seen in the development of Roentgen's products. Marquetry dominated his work from 1770 - 1780 and mahogany from 1780 - 1790. Unquestionably, until faced with ruin in France, Roentgen was the most successful manufacturer of fitted and non fitted furniture in Europe before 1800.

The phenomenon of the Roentgen organisation apart, Germany was rather cautious in its acceptance of the Neoclassical style. Even allowing for the customary time-lag between the establishment of a fashion in any metropolis and its acceptance in the provinces, there was a marked inclination at such centres as the Prussian Court to retain the Rococo style. Strong elements of the Rococo are present for instance, in furniture made by J.C. Fiedler for Frederick the Great in 1775. It wasn't until 1787 that a magazine published in Weimar presented a fully developed Neoclassical style which shows English rather than Louis XVI influence.