Twentieth-century furniture design [antikvár]

A history of twentieth-century design will repeatedly find itself recognising traditions and identifying revivals, rééditions, and new discoveries, which are based on models dating far back into the nineteenth century. One cannot avoid realising that many designs which we are tempted to regard as 'original' today were actually anticipated to some extent during the nineteenth century. There seem to be two main factors which had a determining influence: firstly, the simple designs of the Biedermeier period or related movements in other countries, and secondly, the effects of industrialisation on our sense of style and on the use of materials. Whereas the progressive furniture designs typical especially of the Viennese Biedermeier style were soon forgotten and only rediscovered around 1900, the concept of industrial production increasingly came to influence development. It is a well-known fact that the mechanization which accompanied it was carefully concealed behind a pseudo-historical exterior. This undoubtedly detracted from the admirable ingenuity which was a characteristic of the nineteenth century. But then again, not everything which was thought up was actually of any use.