Wardrobe

The wardrobe, masterpiece of Varaždin carpenter Antun Goger, was finished on May 1, 1833, in Varaždin and is one of the very few signed and dated pieces of furniture in Croatia. Stylistic features of the time in which it was made can be seen in several elements. One of them is the shaping of the body in straight, composed lines, and clean planes without decoration and architectural elements of black stained pillars with discreet touches of gilding. It is made in local kinds of wood, and individual elements in the interior are decorated with brown and yellow patterns imitating black poplar veneer. Also characteristically Biedermeier is the use of secret drawers in the bases of the columns: the front panel hides a door behind which there is a system of seven drawers. The Romantically sentimental character of the style can be seen in the decoration of the interior. In the right hand part there is a writing desk closed with a drop front the panel of which consists of a painting done in oils showing a romantic landscape with a cottage on the bank of a river and a city in the background. On the edge of the top is a dedication – Zum Andenken or For Remembrance, one more favourite motif of the time.
The interior of the writing desk hides the inscription about the craftsman, the year and place of making of this piece. It is divided into two parts; on the left are three drawers decorated with the mentioned imitation of black poplar veneer, while the left hand side consists of a niche at the bottom of which is decoration in the form of drapery of carved and gilded wood. It frames a mirror, behind which is the German wording.
Antun Goger was born in Varaždin in 1807. He was chosen head of the Varaždin carpenters’ guild in 1856. He won an order for the making of the furniture for the Varaždin drawing school in 1857, the city hall in 1857 and the new theatre, early 1870s. After his death in Varaždin in 1873, the work of his workshop was continued by several generations of the family until the 20th century.