Glass cabinet

After the city of Ljubljana had experienced a devastating earthquake in 1895, the architecture and urban planning of the capital of the Slovenes were revitalised; the city was given fresh Secessionist – Art Nouveau form. Many city dwellers at the turn of the century had modern furnishings made for their homes. They could enthuse over elegant curved furniture with floral ornamentation or prefer plain angular pieces with quiet geometric design, in which the beauty of wood in particular was stressed. The glass cabinet of unknown provenance from the prestigious Ljubljana furniture factory of Mathian, which was acquired by the museum after the Second World War, belongs in this second type of geometric Secession, which developed in Vienna. The simple elegance of Viennese Biedermeier can be sensed in the tall, narrow, three-part piece of storage furniture on eight slender and tapered legs with brass feet, while the rhythmic alternation between straight and curved parts, between open glazed and closed spaces, already reflects the lively dynamics of the twentieth century.