They’re Thonet, They’re Tantalizing, and Talk about the ability to withstand the hands of Time!! Of course, when you create a style this classic and incredible, why change it? This is a set of four Bauhaus style #18 Café Chairs comprised of bentwood frames and wonderful hand caned seats by Thonet. These chairs were originally designed in 1876 by Michael Thonet. Famously known as design #18 or “THE” Café Chair, the design is still produced today by Thonet and there are and have been many knockoffs through the years, but these are of the very early generation!! It was the first chair where the seat and back insert were directly connected and the back insert, which echoes the shape of the back, creates extra support and stability. They have additional support including side braces and a ring stretcher surrounding the slightly splayed legs under the incredible newly hand caned seats. This set is a bit unique as each chair bears slight differences. One chair is slightly larger than the other three. One chairs’ side braces attach differently than the others and one chair retains a partial tag that says “made in Austria” which is why we feel they are all the same age and among the earliest of the design created by Thonet. They are Bauhaus in style with an Art Deco and Art Nuovo aesthetic bearing a magnificent design sure to be fabulous around your dining table, game table, breakfast nook, or at the desk in the study or den. Of course, they would also look amazing surrounding a conference table at the office. Need a new table to complement these fabulous chairs? We have several listed here for sale that would work beautifully! Check them out!! You can be sure they will complement your office or home with timeless and historical excellence, whatever your style!!
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.
This ever so versatile set of four #18 Café Chairs by Thonet will blend with or enhance almost any design style you may have from Bauhaus to Art Deco to Industrial. Don’t wait.. you just need to make them YOURS!!!!!
