A Walnut Veneer Bookcase

This vintage bookshelf is made from Hungarian walnut veneers, lightly covered in French polish. Hungarian designs of the period are less well known than French ones but were highly-esteemed in Central Europe. Budapest was always a design center due to its wealth and the cosmopolitanism of its citizens. As co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Budapest supported many artisans, artists, musicians and writers. Much of the modernist furniture produced of the interwar period survived after WW2, partly because it was beautiful (and worthy of keeping) and partly because there was little else to buy. Consequently, old pieces were carefully preserved.