A fairytale chair - Thonet Bistro Chair no.14

The best-selling piece of furniture of all time is a curved chair called "Chair no.14″, "Bistro 14", "Vienna coffee house chair", in short Thonet chair. It was first produced in 1859 by the Gebruder Thonet company, founded by Michael Thonet, a German furniture manufacturer and a great inventor and innovator of the time. More than 50 million of these chairs were sold from the year of its creation until 1930, and variants of it are still in production today.

Michael Thonet, whose name is linked to many inventions and innovations in furniture making

Michael Thonet invented the method of steam bending of wood. He was also the first to introduce the concept of disassembling furniture with screws, replacing the use of glue in many places. He made furniture simple and comfortable on an industrial scale, appealing to everyone, not just to a privileged class as had been the case until then.

Until the early 19th century wood bending was made and used only for shipbuilding. They used large, thick pieces of wood that were alternately watered and heated to make the wood as flexible as possible. The process was very cumbersome and generated a lot of waste. In 1836, Thonet invented a method of steam bending wood that revolutionized the furniture industry and is still used today. Beech wood in the form of long, round elements, it was steamed in special containers for 5 hours, after which it was placed in a mould and immobilized.

The time in which the wood was taken out of the steam and placed in the mold should not exceed 3 minutes. After this time, the wood began to dry out and trapping it in the mold could lead to cracking and even breakage. By cooling and drying, the wood regains its original rigidity, but remains in the shape given by the mold.

Another major change in furniture production was made by Thonet by replacing the glue used to fasten furniture with screws. To produce the famous curved chair, Thonet thought to combine the two revolutionary ideas. He produced a first model and continued to perfect it until 1859, the official birth year of Thonet chair No. 14.

Thonet chair

The chair is disarmingly simple, with 6 curved beech wood elements, 10 screws and 2 nuts. It could be transported in its component parts and assembled at its destination.This idea of demountable furniture also revolutionized the transportation of furniture, greatly reducing storage space. In a cubic meter, 36 such chairs could be transported in one cubic meter, unassembled.

From the moment it was invented, the chair began to conquer the world. Containers of dismantled Thonet chairs were transported by steamships in the USA, reaching the farthest corners of America.

The constructive solutions chosen by Thonet have made the chair not only innovative, but also very strong. An anecdote has also circulated about this particular strength. It is said that Bistro 14 chairs were ordered for the restaurant in the new Eiffel Tower. When they were delivered, one of the chairs fell from the 57 meter high platform. They were all convinced they would find a pile of wood down there. When they came down they were surprised to find that nothing had happened to the chair and it was perfectly functional.

Artists' chair

The Thonet chair is simple, elegant, durable and comfortable. The Bistro 14 and its other versions have had famous admirers over the years. The great architect Le Corbusier said that never was something more elegant, more precise and more functional.

It's rare to find a painting by Toulouse-Lautrec at the Moulin Rouge that doesn't include the famous chairs. The artist seems as fascinated by the curved lines of the Thonet chairs as he is by the ballerinas.

Other famous admirers were Renoir and Picasso. Over the years Thonet made different versions of the chair, but also rocking chair. The curved lines made them very comfortable, and many people developed a passion for them. One Thonet rocking-chair owner was Picasso, who was so fond of his rocking-chair that he was photographed sitting in it many times.

The story goes on

The Gebruder Thonet company continued to manufacture chair no. 14 and other improved versions after Michael Thonet's death. After 1900 they also introduced metal into furniture production, becoming the largest producer of tubular steel furniture in the 1930s. New designs introduced into the manufacture were by big name designers such as Mart Stam and Marcel Breuer.

The modern version of the chair is called the Thonet 214 and is produced in Thonet GmbH factory in Frankenberg, Germany, fifth generation of the family. Wood is still bent using the same methods as in 1860. The company continues to develop innovative products that stand out for their use of quality materials, strength and durability.