A Bentwood chair is sometimes called a Thonet Chair in honor of its creator Michael Thonet. While bentwood chair were actually being made at least two centuries before Thonet was even born, but he perfected the process which made the wood easier to bend and allows for mass production to begin. By the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Thonet had built his first factory and began producing a number of different designs. The most popular chair was simply titled thonet “no 14”, although it has been called the Vienna or Qitay chair. The most innovative aspect of bentwood chairs in Thonet’s eyes was their expendability due to their mass production. At the 1867 World Exhibition in Paris, Thonet earned a gold medal for his design and the popularity of the chair began to grow exponentially. In 1889, a member of the Thonet Company famously threw one of their chairs off the Eiffel Tower where it smashed upon impacting the ground. The crowd was most appreciative and sales of the chairs went through the roof at that point.
There have been a number of famous people who have owned Bentwood chairs, from world leaders to painters to scientists and more;
- Joseph Stalin
- Albert Einstein
- Pablo Picasso and Henri de Toulouse Lautrec
In fact, Lautrec’s work, “At the Moulin Rouge” you can actually see two Bentwood chairs in the painting. Of course, there have been many other people who have owned Bentwood chairs which makes them a rather iconic symbol of our times.
Another interesting fact is that of the 80+ million Bentwood chairs that have been sold since their first creation, more than half of the sales occurred before 1930. While this particular type of chair is still highly popular, other types of chair designs have weaved their way into the general public. This means that the chair itself is not quite as popular as it once was, but it still holds a powerful place in our culture.
There is little doubt that bentwood or thonet chairs changed the furniture industry and today are still some of the most popular ever made.
Complete article | https://www.huset.com.au/blog/a-breif-history-of-thonet-bentwood-chairs
