Two Thonet Armchairs
View Similar Items
Two Thonet Armchairs
About the Item
- Creator:Thonet (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.71 in (78 cm)Depth: 22.45 in (57 cm)Seat Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Jugendstil (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Beech,Polished
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Unknown
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Vienna, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9825811086
Thonet
For more than 180 years, Thonet — or Gebrüder 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 father’s workshop, where he carried out experiments with plywood and modified the Biedermeier chairs that populated the studio.
Thonet’s work for the chancellor raised his profile, and the cabinetmaker gained international recognition, including at London’s 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 family’s 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 world’s oldest mass-produced chair, Michael Thonet’s 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 company’s commitment to environmentally responsible production.
Often called the Coffee House chair — the company’s 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 Thonet’s 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 Architect’s chair, of which Le Corbusier was a fan. (The influential Swiss-French architect and designer used Thonet furniture in his Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau at the 1925 International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.)
Thonet’s 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.
- Pair of Vintage German Minimalist Chrome Black Armchairs from Thonet, 1970sBy ThonetLocated in Warszawa, MazowieckieThis set of two armchairs was manufactured by the German Thonet manufacture during the 1970s. The frame is made of chrome-plated tubular steel. The chairs are made by plywood and covered with black synthetic leather. The minimalist form adds elegance, and the contoured seat improves comfort during use. Both pieces have manufactory labels. Thonet is the oldest existing furniture company in the world. It began its long business in 1819 when the carpenter Michael Thonet founded a furniture workshop in Boppard, Germany. A supporter of the Biedermeier style, he specialized in chairs, tables and cabinets characterized by clean lines, reduced ornamentation and an emphasis on the principles of functionalism. In the 1930s, Thonet's experiments with glued and steam-bent wood furniture...Category
Vintage 1970s German Minimalist Armchairs
MaterialsChrome
$1,753 Sale Price / set20% Off - Bentwood Seating Set/ Salon Suite with Round Thonet Table, Austria, circa 1910By Thonet, Otto WagnerLocated in Lichtenberg, ATEarly 20th century bentwood seating set/ salon suite by Thonet from the Art Nouveau period in Austria, circa 1910. Attributed to the famous Austrian architect and designer Otto Wagne...Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Living Room Sets
MaterialsLeather, Beech
- Pair of Armchairs Chairs Marcel Kammerer, Thonet, Turquoise Green Leather, 1910By Marcel Kammerer, ThonetLocated in Hausmannstätten, ATA pair of fantastic bentwood armchairs designed by Marcel Kammerer and manufactured by Thonet, Austria, circa 1910. They are made of dark or almost black stained beech wood in mahog...Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Jugendstil Living Room Sets
MaterialsBeech, Leather, Bentwood
- Sofa and Armchairs Labelled Jakob & Joseph Kohn Wien, Josef Hoffmann StyleBy Jacob & Josef KohnLocated in Vigonza, PaduaThey can be sold separately 1900s leaving room settee, pair armchairs and sofa, Art Nouveau, by Jakob e Joseph Kohn, Wien, is in solid walnut , in the styl...Category
20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Living Room Sets
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Bench Seette Seat by Thonet, Attributed to Josef Frank, Wood, 1940By Josef Frank, ThonetLocated in Hausmannstätten, ATA freestanding 3-seat manufactured by Thonet, Austria, in late 1930s or early 1940s. The design is attributed to Josef Frank. This comfortable and handmade seette is made of warm ton...Category
Vintage 1940s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Living Room Sets
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Two Eclectic Walnut Armchairs from 1880Located in Kraków, MałopolskaTwo eclectic walnut armchairs, circa 1880 from Cracow (Poland) Every piece of furniture that leaves our workshop from the beginning to the end is subjected to manual renovation, so ...Category
Antique 1870s Polish Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsWalnut
$5,713 / set