The Canapé ... is my Pleasure

vorarlberg museum , 6900 Bregenz, Austria
Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel

How did bourgeois furniture from the metropolises of the 1820-1840s end up in the farmhouse parlour of the Bregenzerwald?
This question is as fascinating as it is unanswered. We shed some light on this in the exhibition.

The idea for the exhibition came up many years ago when Johannes Mohr told us about his many restored canapés from the Bregenzerwald, all of which were dated between 1820 and 1840. The vorarlberg museum was enthusiastic about the subject of Biedermeier sofas and put on what everyone said was a successful exhibition in the atrium, a freely accessible area on the ground floor of the museum.

Canapés from the Biedermeier period can still be found in some Bregenzerwald parlours. The material, construction method and formal language are typical of the bourgeois furniture design of the early 19th century. The exhibition shows their diversity in form with the same construction principle by means of restored original sofas from the workshop of Johannes Mohr. But how did the exquisite furniture of that time come from the urban environment to the remote valley? This question has not yet been conclusively answered…

Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel
Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel
Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel
Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel
Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel
Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel
Photo © Albrecht Imanuel Schnabel
Year
2023
Client
vorarlberg museum
Team
Dr. Theresia Anwander, Cornelia Flatz, Heike Schlauch
Upholstery
Mohr Polster
Restauration carpintery
Schönes aus Holz - Edgar Waldner

Other Projects by Heike Schlauch raumhochrosen 

Krippenschauen
Bregenz, Austria
Büro Ausbau
Bregenz, Austria
Neubau Feuerwehrhaus in Hohenweiler
Hohenweiler, Austria
Römer, Alamannen, Christen - Das Frühmittelalter am Bodensee
Bregenz, Austria
Sozialzentrum Nenzing Haus 1
Nenzing, Austria