4x Armchair Thonet Nr.28

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About the Item

Renovated in the recent past, perfectly cleaned.

We can offer cost-effective shipping.Creator: Thonet (Manufacturer)Dimensions: Height: 29.53 in (75 cm)Width: 23.63 in (60 cm)Depth: 19.69 in (50 cm)Seat Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)Sold As: Set of 4Style: Art Deco (In the Style Of)Materials and Techniques: Beech,BentwoodPlace of Origin: AustriaPeriod: Early 20th CenturyDate of Manufacture: 1920Condition: GoodRefinished. Wear consistent with age and use.Seller Location: Praha, CZReference Number: Seller: Thonetky 1stDibs: LU2456342534232Shop All Thonet

Thonet

For more than 180 years, Thonet or Gebrder Thonet has produced elegant and durable tables and cabinets as well as chairs, stools and other seating that wholly blur the lines between art and design. Widely known as a trailblazer in the use of bentwood in furniture, the European manufacturer has reimagined the places in which we gather.

Noted for his skill in parquetry, German-Austrian company founder Michael Thonet received an invitation from Austrian Chancellor Prince Metternich to contribute Neo-Rococo interiors to the Liechtenstein City Palace in Vienna. The Boppard-born Thonet had honed his carpentry skills in his fathers workshop, where he carried out experiments with plywood and modified the Biedermeier chairs that populated the studio.

Thonets work for the chancellor raised his profile, and the cabinetmaker gained international recognition, including at Londons Great Exhibition of 1851, which featured works created by members of the Arts and Crafts movement as well as industrial products of the day. Thonet showed a range of furniture at the fair and won the bronze medal for his bentwood chairs. He incorporated his familys company, the Thonet Brothers, with his sons in 1853.

Bentwood furniture dates as far back as the Middle Ages, but it is the 19th-century cabinetmaker Thonet who is most often associated with this now-classic technique. Thonet in 1856 patented a method for bending solid wood through the use of steam, and from there, the bentwood look skyrocketed to furniture fame. The works of renowned mid-century modern designers such as Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, and Charles and Ray Eames that put this technological advancement to use would not be as extensive or celebrated were it not for the efforts of the pioneering Thonet.

Considered the worlds oldest mass-produced chair, Michael Thonets ubiquitous Chair No. 14 demonstrated that his patented bentwood technology made it possible to efficiently produce furniture on an industrial scale. Now known as the 214, it won the German Sustainability Award Design for 2021, a recognition of the companys commitment to environmentally responsible production.

Often called the Coffee House chair the companys first substantial order was for a Viennese coffeehouse the No. 14 remains an icon. Thonet originally designed the chair in 1859, and it is considered the starting point for modern furniture.

The bentwood process opened doors there were investments in machinery and new industrial processes, and the business began mass-producing furniture. By the end of the 1850s, there were additional Thonet workshops in Eastern Europe and hundreds of employees. Michael Thonets reputation attracted the attention of notable architects including Otto Wagner, Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The No. 14 was followed by the No. 18, or the Bistro chair, in 1867, and the 209, or the Architects chair, of whichLe Corbusierwas a fan. (The influentialSwiss-French architect and designerused Thonet furniture in his Pavillon de lEsprit Nouveau at the1925 International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.)

Thonets chair designs also appeared in artwork by Toulouse-Lautrec, John Sloan and Henri Matisse in his Interior with a Violin Case. The noteworthy Thonet rocking chair remains a marvel of construction in the middle of the 19th century, Michael produced a series of rockers in which the different curved parts were integrated into fluid, sinuous wholes. Thanks to Thonet, the humble rocker acquired something unexpected: style. It was captured in the paintings of Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and James Tissot.

Thonet is currently split into global divisions. Thonet Industries U.S.A. was acquired in 1987 by Shelby Williams and joined the CF Group in 1999, while the Thonet brand in Germany is owned by Thonet GmbH.

Find a collection of antique Thonet furniture on 1stDibs.