Furniture and clocks
Most of the furniture contained within the Marton Museum is typically central European, with no special additional features to indicate clearly whether a particular object was produced in Vienna, Budapest, Prague, or Zagreb. Nevertheless, there are pieces of German origin to be seen, while still others come from Italy. Most of the furniture in the collection is from the Biedermeier period, with a predominance of the furniture forms popular at that time. Many of these pieces show the frequent use of architectural elements, pillars, and pilasters, which had lost their constructive role in the Biedermeier period and thus became an element of decoration. The basic Biedermeier decorative element was natural wood texture, although no Biedermeier interior would be complete without the balanced and lavish use of hangings and fabrics.
Moving onto the timepieces of the collection, the Marton Museum has a number of exhibits that depict the level of European clockmaking in the 19th century. In the Biedermeier period, clocks were an essential part of every middle class drawing room. Just as important as their appearance was the musical background they provided with their repeating movements and their musical chimes. Repeating movements for all of central Europe were made in the Wiener Stockuhrwerke Workshop of Vienna. In Croatia, musical boxes for clocks were usually imported from Austria or Hungary, and played songs or marches that were popular in those countries.
This component of the collection serves as an important part of the overall museum holdings, as these pieces serve as important artistic examples within the context of European furniture and clock manufacturing.