Ontwerp voor een bureau c. 1840 - 1845

Wilhelm Kimbel designed this office bureau, a drawing, sometime in the 19th century. As an artist and professor during the Biedermeier period, Kimbel straddled the line between the artisan and the intellectual. The design, while practical, is highly ornamented, reflecting the Biedermeier aesthetic of refined simplicity and functionality, but also speaks to the gendered spaces of the time. This bureau, with its elaborate embellishments, speaks to the performative nature of office for the upper middle class. This piece, through its design and intended use, reflects not only the values of the time, but also subtly questions the roles and spaces allotted to different genders within the bourgeois society. It represents an intimate glimpse into the negotiations between the public roles and private identities during this era.