Adalbert Stifter:

What one sits, lies upon, is not for sitting, lying or standing but for looking at, so that the neighbour on a visit from his cave to ours may see it and be vexed by it … the neighbour must be vexed that his place is not so beautifully decorated. Just as one requires a certificate of poverty to be awarded a contemptible stipend …, so these objects must serve as certificates of wealth, even if wealth is lacking, which is why the compartments and boxes are far more precious than what they contain …. Rugs, damasks, coffee cloths, wardrobes, tables, chairs, sofas – all these things are themselves tricksters; for the carcase is of paltry softwood, every table has feet of deal, but wears walnut or mahogany trousers … – all that matters is that they are called beautiful objects … and throw dust in the visitor’s eyes, [to suggest to him that] he has come to God only knows what a genteel and select house. That this is the purpose of these objects, and not, as a simpleton might believe, their utility, is evident from the fact that the better compartments of the cave-dwelling are not lived in, that immediately after a visitor has left, a linen cover is spread over the wooden cover of these objects.