About Josef Ulrich Danhauser

Josef Ulrich Danhauser in 1804 founded the Danhauser'sche Mobelfabrik (Danhauser Furniture Factory) in Vienna, and it was continued by his son Josef Franz (1805-1845). The factory produced everything from complete suites of furniture to home furnishings that included metal work, glass, upholstery, and wall coverings. Danhauser also published illustrated pattern books and blueprints of designs that other joiners could copy, thereby spreading the new style throughout the German-speaking world. The Biedermeier style in the decorative arts evolved in such cities as Vienna, Munich, and Berlin. The tendency was to pare forms to their essentials, merging the useful with the beautiful. The gilding and frills of the eighteenth century were stripped away in favor of the natural beauty of materials and shapes. The most important and influential of the Biedermeier manufacturers was the Danhauser Furniture Factory. The domestic values associated with the Biedermeier period were soon reflected in the development of what is now recognized as the classic seating group in the bourgeois drawing room. Sofas, on which the lady of the house sat to receive guests, were generally positioned with their straight, unfinished backs against a wall. The early Danhauser sofas in Plates II, IIa, and III are distinguished by their silk upholstery and abundant fringed draperies. An entirely new kind of table was introduced to place in front of the generously upholstered sofas. Groupings of lightweight chairs that could be easily moved for any occasion completed the furnishings for domestic gatherings. Biedermeier was the era of the chair, (2) producing an astonishing number of variations on the basic scheme of four legs, a seat, and a back. The Danhauser example in Plate VI also appears in the firm's pattern book (Fig. 1). The chair back is the embodiment of elegance, suggesting an open plume of feathers supported by lyrical S-shaped side rails. The nearly skeletal chair in Plate VIII could be moved easily from room to room. The lyre-backs of chairs in Plate V recall the graceful shape of the violin and were ideally suited to music rooms. The new playfulness in furniture was encouraged by the advent of machines that permitted the variety to satisfy the customer while maintaining overall standards of design. Joseph August Lux outlines the multiple requirements of a good chair. The height of the seat is the first factor. It is the height that determines the depth of the seat. Crossbars between the legs are superfluous and impractical. Inevitably people will draw their feet under the chair, in which case crossbars, particularly between the front legs, will be a great impediment. ... The backs of dining room chairs should be as low as possible, in order not to impede serving. If the top of the chair back is at shoulder level, it is best straight. Then when a person leans back, his shoulder blades will be pressed in, leaving his chest free. A chair whose back forms a curve around the shoulder blades will produce shortness of breath. If the chair back stops at the level of the small of the back, or anywhere below the shoulder blades, it is best given a curve. (3)