PARIS—To celebrate its 10th anniversary, New York antiques dynamo ILIAD has put together a series of shows in its new 5,300-square-foot gallery at 212 East 57th Street. First on tap is "Vienna Biedermeier: The Art of Walnut," October 1 through December 30, featuring 15 pieces of furniture remarkable for their clean lines and dramatic veneers. 

Beidermeier 101
Known for its simplicity of material and design, which feature rich veneers in place of ornamentation, the style that became known as Biedermeier initially targeted the middle class created by the economic expansion of the Austro- Hungarian Empire in the first half of the 19th century. The furniture overcame these bourgeois associations, however, to become the fashionable choice of aristocrats and royalty, such as King Maximilian I of Bavaria, who decorated his private apartments in the Munich Residenz with Biedermeier art and furniture.

Famed Maker
Josef Danhauser, who in 1804 opened Vienna’s first furniture factory, is the only well-recognized maker of Biedermeier pieces, since individual artisans rarely signed or dated their work.

Shine On
Unlike with some other antiques, (proper) restoration actually enhances the value of Biedermeier furniture. "It’s an absolute prerequisite to protect and conserve the veneers in order to re-create the original aesthetic of highly polished surfaces that is characteristic to the style," says Adam Brown, co-owner with Andrea Zemel of ILIAD. 

Low and High
Biedermeier furniture is relatively affordable, considering the craftsmanship and elegance of the work. "You can find great pieces for under $50,000," says Christie’s New York head of European Furniture William Strafford. That said, a folio cabinet estimated at $15,000 to $30,000 sold for $65,000 at Christie’s New York in April 2008. ILIAD’s secrétaire is priced at $68,000. The record for a piece of Biedermeier furniture at auction is $314,000, for a circa 1810 Viennese secrétaire sold at Christie’s Amsterdam in 2006.

Major Exhibitions
Vienna’s Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie held the first large-scale Biedermeier exhibition, in 1896. The first major survey of the movement in North America was "Biedermeier: The Invention of Simplicity," which opened in September 2006 at the Milwaukee Art Museum and later toured Europe. In March 2008 the Museum für Kunsthandwerk in Frankfurt held "Biedermeier Furniture in Europe.

"Highly Polished" originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's October 2009 Table of Contents.