A Biedermeier Table for Displaying Geological and Dendrological Specimens from the Collection of the National Museum in Warsaw

Abstract

A table donated to the NMW by the Board of Trustees in 2017 is one of a few examples of furniture designed to display natural specimens – in this case, samples of 144 minerals and 16 varieties of wood. This is the oldest existing collection of this kind in Poland today. The idea behind the table arose out the 18th century’s enlightened interest in nature, out of the tendency toward encyclopaedic classification of the world and attempts to compile synthetic knowledge on the natural world, continuing through the 19th century. The table was produced in 1825 for someone associated with the Warsaw Society of Friends of Science and the Royal University of Warsaw, in the circle of Stanisław Staszic, at a time of dynamic advancements in geology and botany. That scientific progress was closely tied to widespread economic and business initiatives undertaken at the time. The paper analyses artistic, technical and historical issues pertaining to this spectacular piece of furniture.