Biedermeier

A style of furniture produced in Austria and Germany during the first half of the 19th century. Inspired by French Empire and German painted peasant work. The name was borrowed from an imaginary cartoon character called Papa Biedermeier, an uneducated country gentlemen who considered himself a connoisseur of fine and industrial arts. Simple marquetry patterns were used with pressed brass ornaments of Greek inspiration as well as painted motifs of wreaths, urns, and floral, animal and human forms. Woods used were mainly fruitwoods, maple, mahogany and birch.

Bronze doré

A French 18th and 19th Century gilding technique of applying an amalgam of fine, high-carat gold with mercury to copper, brass, or most commonly bronze objects. The bronze is exposed to high heat in a kiln burning off the mercury leaving a thin gold coat behind that is adhered to the metal. Commonly used by the craftsmen, Fondeurs-ciseleurs (founders and finishers), for decorative mounts in furniture, clocks, candelabras, and porcelain. Due to the health hazards of mercury, the technique waned into the late 19th Century and was replaced by electroplating.