Washstand

The presented piece of furniture is part of a set manufactured by the Portois & Fix company, purchased by Roman and Elżbieta Potocki in the final years of the 19th century or around 1900. At the time, towards the end of the extensive renovation and modernisation, the Łańcut estate required additions to the interior furnishings. The bedroom set consists of: a washstand, a table, a bed, a nightstand, a chest of drawers and a clothing wardrobe (S.2912MŁ; S.6129 – 6133MŁ). Those were not the only items purchased by the Potockis from the well-known Viennese manufacturer (see S.1598MŁ). The Portois & Fix company was established by August Portois and Anton Fix. The partners likely met at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair. August Portois, French by origin, was an interior decorator with experience in the furniture trade, who established a branch of the Parisian trade association "Societé Commerciale de Paris" in Vienna and executed commissions for the representatives of the imperial family. Anton Fix came from a family of Viennese upholsterers-decorators; in 1872, he took over the generations-old family workshop from his father. The Portois & Fix company, established in 1881, originally sold furniture, upholstery, marble mantels, and decorative items. Relying on the artisan background of the Fix family, the company began the production of high-quality furniture for comprehensive interior design, gaining considerable popularity in the 1990s. Before 1900, production was focused on the aesthetics of historical styles that were fashionable at the time. At that time, there was a dominant belief in the appropriate choice of style for the specific function or purpose of a room. The often imitated Rococo style (French Louis XV style) was supposed to be the appropriate choice for a ladies' boudoir or bedroom, as exemplified by the presented set of furniture. Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967