Thonet Wood Stool

About the Item

Thonet stool, manufactured by Thonet, circa 1920. It preserves the original label to the underside. In good original condition, with minor wear consistent with age and use, preserving a beautiful patina. Thonet was the son of master tanner Franz Anton Thonet of Boppard. Following a carpenter's apprenticeship, Thonet set himself up as an independent cabinetmaker in 1819. A year later, he married Anna Grahs, with whom he had seven sons and six daughters. Only five of the sons, however, survived early childhood. In the 1830s, Thonet began trying to make furniture out of glued and bent wooden slats. His first success was the Bopparder Schichtholzstuhl (Boppard layerwood chair) in 1836. Thonet gained substantial independence by acquiring the Michelsmühle, the glue factory that made the glue for this process, in 1837. However, his attempts to patent the technology failed in Germany (1840) as well as in Great Britain, France and Russia (1841). Thonet's essential breakthrough was his success in having light, strong wood bent into curved, graceful shapes by forming the wood in hot steam. This enabled him to design entirely novel, elegant, lightweight, durable and comfortable furniture, which appealed strongly to fashion - a complete departure from the heavy, carved designs of the past - and whose aesthetic and functional appeal remains to this day. View.

Creator:

Thonet (Manufacturer)

Dimensions:

Height: 18.51 in (47 cm)Diameter: 14.18 in (36 cm)Seat Height: 18.51 in (47 cm)

Style:

Other (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Wood

Place of Origin:

Germany

Period:

1890-1899