On a score of one to ten, these chairs earn a SOLID 10!!!!!! This is an INCREDIBLE set of 10 vintage Thonet bent oak plywood #1216-S17-B1 dining chairs!! They are comprised of fabulous oak bent plywood frames with saddle seats and an attractive, single bent oak plywood bow which doubles as a stretcher between the back legs. This design was first introduced by Thonet in 1945 and these iconic chairs are part of that introduction line. It was also the first mass produced bent ply chair for Thonet. It remained in their catalog for over THIRTY years and was made from only SIX pieces of wood plus hardware!! Amazing!!! A similar chair design can still be purchased today; however, these are clearly from the vintage line. Obviously, they are quite captivating to the eye but, talk about sturdy! According to the book, “Thonet, 150 years of Furniture,” the #1216 design was virtually indestructible!!! So, you don’t have to sacrifice style for durability! And a fun fact… these chairs were originally homed at Kansas University in their all-inclusive campus housing!! GO K.U.!!! They will be wonderful used as dining chairs, but they would be equally fabulous around an office or conference table, or at the family game table. Did your company show up unexpectedly? No problem! These are a great option for extra seating! Use one in a corner of your bedroom or dressing area, at a breakfast or game table, or at your dining table!! They would also be wonderful in an office waiting area, school or church function, a café or coffee house, or any entertaining event. And, if you’re in the market for a fabulous table to accommodate these beauties, we have several listed here for sale that would host them perfectly! Check them out!!
Thonet was founded by Michael Thonet. Michael was born in 1796 and was apprenticed by his father to a cabinetmaker. Shortly after he married, Michael opened his one-man cabinetmaking shop creating furniture and cabinetry in the traditional manner by carving the needed parts and then joining them together. In 1830 he began experimenting with bending wood into curved shapes and thus began a successful furniture company that has remained continually in operation for nearly 200 years. Thonet’s early work was very Biedermeier in style and not made for the common man. Gradually his designs became more Art Nouveau. In 1951 his chairs for the Crystal Palace at the London World’s Fair won a prize medal and by the late 1950s he began to make his first “consumer” chair. In 1875, a year before Michael’s death, Thonet’s five factories made 620,000 chairs. Then in 1876 after his death the company became Gebruder Thonet. But all was not roses. In 1869 the Thonet patents lapsed and by 1893 there were 52 bentwood companies in Europe. However, Thonet persevered. They branched out. They merged. They added designs by Le Corbusier and Breuer and alternative materials such as tubular chrome in place of bentwood to their offerings. Business boomed and waned through the years and there was even a Thonet revival, so to speak, beginning in the 1940s on into the mid-20th century. Till today, in the 21st century, Thonet is still a furniture company to be reckoned with almost 200 years later.
These #1216 bent oak plywood chairs have supreme style, an inviting presence, substantial durability, AND they’re vintage Thonet!!! What more could you possibly want? Don’t hesitate… Make them YOURS!!!!!
