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Drawing, Designs for Mechanical Furniture: Bidet and Reading Washstand
This is a Drawing. It is dated ca. 1805 and we acquired it in 1911. Its medium is pen and black ink, brush and watercolor on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.
Biedermeier Bidet and Reading Washstand
The early nineteenth century marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars, which left Germany and many other countries in a state of destitution.[1] As the German middle class developed and grew wealthier due to industrialization during the succeeding decades, they demanded a new style of furniture characterized by “plain, unpretentious, and inoffensive”[2] objects. The period, which lasted from about 1815 through 1830, was known as the Biedermeier era, named after the fictitious schoolmaster and poet Gottlieb Biedermeier. Designs for Mechanical Furniture: Bidet and Reading Washstand resembles furniture from this time in their lack of decorative elements. In addition, the light brown color of the furniture indicates that it was made of wood, which was the common material for furniture during this time.[3] Finally, the portability of the objects due their light and flat surfaces gives further clues that the drawing was indeed from this period.[4]
Although the title suggests two pieces of furniture, careful examination of the drawing shows three: a bidet, washstand, and reading table. The idea of furniture for gender-specific use was common in the nineteenth century. The reading table, which had the tendency to function as a place to conduct business activities, was most likely for the male. Literature reveals that bidets and washstands were primarily placed in the female’s bedroom. The bidet, washstand, and reading table in their banality characterize the Biedermeier period and most likely functioned for activities particular to the male or female.
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[1] Georg Himmelheber, Biedermeier Furniture (London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1974), 25.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., 33.
[4] Ibid., 34.
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Biedermeier Bidet and Reading Washstand.
This object was
donated by
Advisory Council.
It is credited Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council.
Its dimensions are
36.6 x 30.2 cm (14 7/16 x 11 7/8 in.)
It has the following markings
Watermark: Vander Ley (similar Heawood 1838)
Cite this object as
Drawing, Designs for Mechanical Furniture: Bidet and Reading Washstand; Germany; pen and black ink, brush and watercolor on paper; 36.6 x 30.2 cm (14 7/16 x 11 7/8 in.); Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council; 1911-28-474
