Set of four chairs "model 209" Thonet

Set of four chairs "model 209" THONET. Vienna, late 19th century.
Black stained curved beech wood.
Seat in wickerwork.
Made in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s.
In good vintage condition, three of the grids were hand braided and the fourth was restored with beading.
With attribution mark
Measurements: 78 x 55 x 53 cm (78 x 55 x 53 x 53 cm)

This elegant bentwood classic is a masterpiece from the point of view of construction and manufacture: the wide arch, which is backrest and armrest at the same time, consists of a single curved piece of solid beech wood. Thanks to its aesthetic reduction combined with its organic form, it almost looks like a sculpture. The Swiss architect Le Corbusier was enthusiastic about it and used it in many of his buildings.

Michael Thonet invented his own technique that allowed the wood to curve in a unique way, giving it great plasticity and lightness, as can be seen in this openwork backrest, together with the armrests in the form of scrolls and the slight curve of the legs.

Michael Thonet was a furniture maker and industrialist, pioneer in furniture design and creator of wood bending techniques. From 1830 he experimented with new techniques for laminating and bending wood in order to obtain forms that avoided costly chisel and joinery systems. He gained more independence by acquiring a glue factory for his designs. His first success was the Bopparder Schichtholzstuhl ('Boppard chair') in 1836. At the Koblenz fair in 1841, he met Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, who confessed to being enthusiastic about his furniture and invited him to the Viennese court. The following year, Thonet presented his designs to the imperial family and after selling his establishment decided to move to Vienna with his family. There he worked with his sons on the interior decoration of the Liechtenstein Palace. Thonet patented a system for hot bending wood in 1841. The patented invention, which enabled him to improve his industrial organization, consisted of subjecting sheets of wood soaked in glue to the heat and humidity produced by steam in order to obtain a compact, elastic and flexible mass, which was then pressed and shaped into special forms. Once the necessary degree of cooling had been reached, the molds were removed and the wood was presented ready in the size and pattern corresponding to the pieces of the various pieces of furniture, which were then assembled in a very simple manner, by means of screws. In 1849 he founded the company Gebrüder Thonet near Vienna. In 1850 he produced his Number 1 chair. The London International Fair of 1851 awarded him the bronze medal for his Vienna bentwood chair, which marked his international launch. At the next international fair in Paris in 1855, he was awarded the silver medal.