The following 24 lots formed part of an important suite of furniture, originally made for Palais Auersperg in Vienna. The suite was conceived to complement the remodelling of the Palaisin the classical style of the Palais by Heinrich Fischer, which was completed in 1802. The building, which was originally built in 1706 by Lucas Hildebrandt for Count Welte, had been purchased by the Auersberg family in the late 18th Century. In the second half of the 19th Century the suite was transferred to the family hunting retreat, built by Franz Xaver Pollnfuerst around 1800. This group was made at a critical point when Viennese furniture, moving from neo-classical forms, touched on adopted Empire forms and finally came to full bloom in the Biedermeier period. Unfortunately very little is known about the furiture makers of Austria of this crucial period. It has not been possible to attribute the suite to any particular work shop. Some of the influences on it can, however, be traced to designs in the Journal des Luxus und der Moden, published monthly between 1786 and 1827 in Weimar by F.J. Bertuch and G.J. Kraus. Lot 183 displays the same mechanisms as a design for a servante folding table published in the Journal in 1804 and lot 197 which copies the same idea for a schenktisch, or sideboard but with more restraint than the model in the Journal, of 1801. The journal which reported on the newest fashion developments from the most important capitals of Europe, popularised French and English designs in Austria and Germany. Austria, however, assimilated less than Germany to the opulence of French models and kept a restraining delicacy in the lines and the decoration of the furniture. Gottfried August Pohle's design-sheet (lot 175) of which the chair in the second row to the far right is closely related to lot 198, highlights the variety of shapes and decorations that were achieved in spite of Austria's preference for restraint. The secretaire of the suite is in the Oesterreichisches Museum fur Angewandte Kunst, Vienna