Pair of Vintage "Cafés" Chairs Signed Thonet
View Similar Items
Pair of Vintage "Cafés" Chairs Signed Thonet
About the Item
- Creator:Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 33.08 in (84 cm)Width: 19.3 in (49 cm)Depth: 22.05 in (56 cm)Seat Height: 18.51 in (47 cm)
- Style:Jugendstil (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Beech,Beaded
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1900-1909
- Date of Manufacture:1900
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor structural damages. Minor fading.
- Seller Location:Saint-Ouen, FR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1705219334542
Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH
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 antique Gebrüder Thonet furniture on 1stDibs.
- Pair of Chairs in the Thonet Style, circa 1900Located in Saint-Ouen, FRPair of chairs in the Thonet style, circa 1900 to be restored.Category
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Chairs
- Joseph Frank , Pair of Thonet Style Armchairs, circa 1950By ThonetLocated in Saint-Ouen, FRJoseph Frank ( model of ) Pair of Thonet style armchairs, circa 1950 Repainted some time ago. Good general condition, small lack of paint.Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Chairs
MaterialsBentwood
- Four Chairs in the Thonet Style, circa 1900By ThonetLocated in Saint-Ouen, FR4 Chairs in the Thonet style, circa 1900.Category
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Chairs
MaterialsBeech
$934 / item - Luterma , Chair in the Thonet Style, circa 1900By LutermaLocated in Saint-Ouen, FRLuterma , Chair in the Thonet Style, circa 1900Category
Early 20th Century Estonian Art Nouveau Chairs
MaterialsBeech
- 5 Thonet style chairs circa 1900By ThonetLocated in Saint-Ouen, FR5 Thonet style chairs circa 1900 good general condition, no restoration requiredCategory
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Chairs
MaterialsCane, Beech
$2,747 / set - series of 6 garden or veranda chairs in painted wood circa 1900/1930 ThonetBy ThonetLocated in Saint-Ouen, FRseries of 6 garden or veranda chairs in painted wood circa 1900/1930 Thonet styleCategory
Early 20th Century European Art Nouveau Chairs
MaterialsBeech
- Jugendstil Vintage Thonet Chair No 519 Adolf Loos for Cafe Capua Vienna 1913By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbHLocated in Vienna, ATJugendstil vintage Chair Model number 519 by Thonet. Adolf Loos designed the chair for Cafe Capua. While the wooden parts are shellac polished by hand, the ...Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Jugendstil Chairs
MaterialsBentwood, Beech
- Set of 4 Antique vintage Dining Cafe Cane Bentwood Chairs by ThonetBy Thonet, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbHLocated in BROOKLYN, NYSet of (4) Antique vintage cane seat cafe chairs by Thonet gebrüder. model No. 18 chairs. They are in original condition with nice patina. The dark Brown Walnut wood has been oiled s...Category
Vintage 1940s Polish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCane, Wood
- Pair of Thonet Bentwood Cafe Bistro Dining ChairsBy Michael ThonetLocated in Port Jervis, NYOnly 2 available, price is per chair. Bentwood cafe chairs sold in a set of 2. Chairs all match, even in terms of use. They are all very tight and well-constructed, having been made...Category
Vintage 1960s Romanian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBeech
- Original Otto Prutscher by Gebrüder Thonet Chair, 1908By Woka Lamps, Otto Prutscher, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbHLocated in Vienna, ATAn extremely rare Thonet chair, designed by Otto Prutscher for a Villa in Jägerndorf - Literatur: Innendekoration 1917 - Measure: Seat height 50cm.Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Jugendstil Chairs
MaterialsBentwood
- Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH Loos Cafe Museum Chair in Dark WalnutBy Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbH, Adolf LoosLocated in Brooklyn, NYA refined and timeless object. Elegance, shape lightness and everyday life. Adolf Loos’s famous chair has today been revived thanks to new production techniques that successfully leave its artisan quality unaltered. Inspired by Thonet catalogue models nos. 14 and 30, and Kohn catalogue model no. 248, the Loos Café...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Austrian Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Pair of Art Nouveau Thonet Bentwood Chairs No. 14, Austria, circa, 1890By Gebrüder Thonet Vienna GmbHLocated in Lichtenberg, ATElegant set of two bentwood chairs made by the renown company of Thonet in Vienna/ Austria in the era around 1890. These beautiful Art Nouveau chairs from the earlier period are the famous Thonet coffeehouse chairs model No. 14. Created out of fine bentwood (beechwood that has been formed under hot steam and high pressure) and stained to a gorgeous looking nut wood look, this antique Art Nouveau seating set provides comfortable seating surfaces which are holding the still original (!) renowed classical "vienesse mesh". A beautiful set of timeless designed, late 19th century bentwood chairs...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Chairs
MaterialsBentwood