A set of 6 MR10 chairs, Mies van der Rohe

About the Item

A pair of 6 MR10 dining chairs designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1926 and manufactured by Thonet during the 1970s. Mies van der Rohe was issued the patent for his tubular steel cantilevered design in August, 1927. This was closely followed by another patent for the addition of wicker to the seat and back, which was issued in August, 1928. Sergius Ruegenberg, who worked in Mies van der Rohe’s office from 1925 to 1934, recalled the design process which led to the creation of the MR10. According to Ruegenberg, Mies began with a simple sketch of a cantilevered chair by Mart Stam, who was hailed as the first to design a chair without back legs. Mart Stam’s original design was a simple construction of lines and joints, it was a chair of right angles. Mies drew a single sweeping curve over the joints of Stam’s cantilevered chair to produce the foundation of what would become the MR10 and other associated designs in tubular steel. The MR10 was showcased at several notable events during 1927, which included the Exposition de la Mode in Paris and the Weissenhof Exhibition in Stuttgart. The latter was an exhibition of 21 buildings curated by Mies in order to promote modernist design and the, albeit idealistic, solutions it sought to create or working-class housing. The M10 chairs were originally produced by Joseph Müller in Berlin and, after 1930, were produced by Thonet. This set of 6 dining chairs were produced by Thonet during the 1970s and have retained their original wicker seats and backs, the colour of which has deepened over time into a rich honey-like colour.

Creator:
Thonet (Manufacturer),Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (Designer)
Design:
MR Chair - 256CSMR Series
Dimensions:
Height: 31.89 in (81 cm)Width: 18.71 in (47.5 cm)Depth: 27.17 in (69 cm)Seat Height: 16.93 in (43 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Chrome,Steel,Wicker
Place of Origin:
Germany
Period:
Mid-20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1970s
Condition:
Repaired: Minor restoration, not visible, has secured any loose pieces of wicker. Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU891036502712
View Invoice

Shop All Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Architect, furniture designer and educator, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a central figure in the advancement and promotion of modernist design and architectural theory and practice. Like Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, he was a hugely influential presence in the field, who shaped the course of 20th-century architecture both through his buildings and his teaching of rationalist design principles.

Born in the medieval German city of Aachen, Mies found an interest in architecture as a boy while working for his father, a master stonemason. He had no formal education as an architect, but learned his skills as an apprentice to the designer Bruno Paul, and as a staffer in the office the proto-modernist architect and designer Peter Behrens. Following World War I, Mies rose to prominence in his field amid the liberal atmosphere of the Weimar Republic. His reputation was secured by his work on the German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona (commonly referred to as the Barcelona Pavilion) — which Mies codesigned with Lilly Reich, his creative and romantic partner — a radically simple, poetic, open-plan building pared down to its architectural essentials. Mies would go on to direct the Bauhaus from 1930 until 1933, when Nazi-government interference forced the closure of the progressive art and design school. Later that decade, he made his way to Chicago, where he remained for the rest of his career as a practicing architect and a dean of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Mies’s famed dictum “less is more” grew from his belief that architecture both guides and expresses the spirit of the times, and he envisioned the 20th century as open-minded, logical, transparent and liberated by technology. His best-known buildings — residences such as the Villa Tugendhat in Czechoslovakia and the Farnsworth House in rural Illinois; skyscrapers like the 860–880 Lake Shore Drive apartment towers in Chicago and the Seagram Building in New York — reflect that philosophy. As do the most famous furniture designs authored by him or codesigned with Reich.

Pieces designed by Mies and Reich such as the Barcelona chair (the authorized version is produced by Knoll today), stools and daybed, or the cantilevered Brno chairs, deliver a maximum of comfort and support from a minimum of materials: their “lavishness” derives from the precision with which they are engineered and constructed. For the collector, the allure of Mies’s furniture is at once practical and idealistic. Useful and functional, his works embody the highest aspirations of modernism.

Find vintage Mies van der Rohe chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.