Object Description
An Exceptional Exhibition Austrian Neo-Baroque Carved Mahogany Bed The Foot and Headboard Finely Carved With Figural Crests and Inset with Gilt-Bronze Relief Panels Depicting the Five Ages of Man and the Birth of Venus.
This large and impressive bed epitomises the grandeur and sophistication of the Austrian neo-baroque, with an emphasis on rich ornamentation and classical motifs that become a central feature of Imperial style in the late 19th century.
The bronze plaques with their sensuous iconography and the intricately carved female figures to the footboard however, hint at the forthcoming modernist aesthetic of art nouveau.
The bed is richly carved with a circular cresting flanked by lions and putti, above a rectangular headboard inset with a fine bronze relief panel depicting the Five Ages of Man and flanked by carved uprights, populated by expressive putti figures holding thyrsus staffs and pan like figures playing the pipes. The footboard is carved with out-swept scrolling corners and putti