Furniture for the Dream King

Anton Possenbacher (1842-1920), cabinet-maker to the Bavarian court in Munich, was head of one of the largest late 19th-century German makers of luxury furnishings. His furniture designs, especially those for King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1871-1886), represent German historicism at its zenith. Possenbacher created almost all the furnishings for the royal apartments at Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and Neu Schwanstein. Intricately carved and lavishly upholstered in gold brocade and dazzling embroidered pictures, these furnishings are highlights in the sumptuous interiors of Bavarian castles. Made to the specifications of an exacting monarch, these masterpieces of the cabinet-makers craft have lost nothing of their original fascination. Not content with resting on his laurels in Bavaria, Anton Possenbacher also designed for other rulers, such as King Charles I of Romania, for whom he designed an elegant palace library in Bucharest (1887). Possenbacher's clients also included industrialists, merchants and landed gentry, for whose town houses and manors he created entire rooms. This work introduces the full range of furnishings by Anton Possenbacher viewed in their historical context.