Marcel Breuer, Cesca chairs for Thonet

MARCEL BREUER (Hungary, 1902-USA, 1981) for Thonet.
4 dining chairs "Cesca" or S32, design 1928.
In chrome-plated tubular steel, wood frames and grille.
Thonet edition, circa 1970s, with stamp.
In very good condition, with some signs of use. One of the seat grids has some defect but still with useful life ahead of it.

The Cesca chair, designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928, is one of the most iconic and replicated designs of the 20th century. It represents the perfect application of Bauhaus theories to domestic furniture. Its major revolution is that it has no back legs (i.e., its structure is cantilevered). Thanks to this cantilevered structure, the chair offers a slight flexibility when sitting, which makes it surprisingly comfortable despite its rigid appearance.

Although Breuer designed it in the 1920s, the chair was not given the name "Cesca" until the 1950s, when Italian manufacturer Gavina named it after Breuer's adopted daughter Francesca. Today, the official licensed manufacturer is Knoll, although Thonet also produces its version (S32).

Authorship of the design was the subject of a famous legal dispute. Although Breuer perfected it and made it famous, the original concept of the cantilever structure was devised shortly before by Mart Stam, forcing Stam to be legally recognized as the inventor of the system.