Secession Nesting Tables by Thonet
About the Item
- Creator:Thonet (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 28.35 in (72 cm)Width: 15.36 in (39 cm)Depth: 23.82 in (60.5 cm)
- Style:Vienna Secession (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Wood
- Place of Origin:Austria
- Period:1900-1909
- Date of Manufacture:1900s
- Condition:Refinished.
- Seller Location:Banská Štiavnica, SK
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU6444231469492
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Hronská Breznica, Slovakia
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Secession Marble Coffee Table by ThonetBy ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKOffice chair no.811 by Josef Hoffmann for Thonet.Category
Vintage 1910s Hungarian Vienna Secession Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Secession Thonet Coffee TableBy ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKSecession Thonet coffee table in original vintage condition with signs of use.Category
Vintage 1920s Slovak Vienna Secession Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBeech
- Secession Dining Chairs by ThonetBy ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKSecession bentwood Thonet dining chairs. Professionally stained and repolished with new handmade rattan seats.Category
Vintage 1910s Slovak Vienna Secession Chairs
MaterialsRattan, Bentwood
- 19th century bentwood Thonet tableBy Thonet, Michael ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SK19th century bentwood Thonet table professionally stained and repolished.Category
Antique 19th Century Austrian Vienna Secession Tables
MaterialsBeech, Bentwood
- Bentwood Music Stand No.1 by ThonetBy ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKBentwood music stand no.1 by Thonet professionally stained and repolished.Category
Vintage 1910s Austrian Vienna Secession Tables
MaterialsBentwood
- Secession Desk Chair No. 25 by ThonetBy Thonet, August ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKSecession desk chair no. 25 by Thonet with new handmade rattan seat professionally stained and repolished.Category
Antique Early 1900s Czech Vienna Secession Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsRattan, Bentwood
- Early 20th C Thonet Quartetto Nesting TablesBy ThonetLocated in Troy, MICirca 1900 set of four Thonet nesting tables with original label. Bent wood beech frames with original dark finish. Very good overall antique condition with some scattered surface we...Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Vienna Secession Nesting Tables and Stacking...
MaterialsBeech, Bentwood
- Early Thonet B 9 Nesting Tables by Marcel BreuerBy Marcel Breuer, ThonetLocated in PRAHA 5, CZEarly set of nesting tables, model B9 - 9C. Chrome-plated tubular steel and lacquered wood. Manufactured probably by Gebrüder Thonet AG, Frankenberg, These pieces, while originally d...Category
Vintage 1920s Austrian Bauhaus Nesting Tables and Stacking Tables
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- 1900 Thonet Set of Nesting TablesBy ThonetLocated in Praha, CZ- 4 pieces of wooden tables that slide into each other. - Dimensions from the largest 1st height 75cm, width 57cm, depth 39cm. 2nd height 73cm, width 51cm, depth 37cm. 3. height 70...Category
Antique Early 1900s Czech Bauhaus Nesting Tables and Stacking Tables
MaterialsWood
- Nesting Brass TablesLocated in Brooklyn, NYNeoclassical brass nesting tables with smoked glass Original condition, metal would need polishing.Category
20th Century French Neoclassical Revival Nesting Tables and Stacking Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Wittmann Satztische Nesting Tables by Josef HoffmannBy Josef Hoffmann, WittmannLocated in New York, NYJosef Hoffmann designed this simple four-part nest of tables at the turn of the century. * Ash black stained.Category
2010s Austrian Nesting Tables and Stacking Tables
MaterialsAsh
- Set of Nesting Tables by Charak ModernBy Charak Furniture CompanyLocated in New York, NYSet of three nesting tables, amoebic black lacquered tops with brass legs, by Charak Modern, American, 1940s. Label on bottom. Largest table is a trapezoid; medium table is a rectang...Category
Vintage 1960s American Nesting Tables and Stacking Tables