VC-01-63

Thonet Armchair

Model no. 4, Design before 1859 Made by Thonet Brothers (Stamp), Vienna, c.1900 Mahogany stained bent beechwood Overall Height: 39” W: 22” D: 22” Lit: Alexander von Vegesack, Thonet, classic furniture in bent wood and tubular steel, NY 1997, p.40. Michael Thonet pioneered the process of bentwood furniture making. In 1849 he took his four sons into partnership, naming the firm “Gebrueder Thonet”. His success was immediate, and by the turn of the Century, the company had salesrooms in all major European cities. This armchair design appears on a sales poster of 1859 (Vegesack, Thonet, p.40). In 1856, after using laminates for almost 25 years, Thonet managed bending solid beech rods and was granted a patent to bend solid wood. In this armchair the solid bent wood parts are screwed together. It carries the ‘Thonet’ stamp introduced in the late 1880. This chair design was known as the Café Daum chair, model no. 4. By the turn of the century, bentwood furniture had become synonymous with Viennese coffee shops and culture.