The starting point was a new technique – the bending of solid wood – that Michael Thonet perfected during the 1850s, enabling mass production. Added were new and simple aesthetics and a low price, which represented a revolution in interior design: suddenly, homes, restaurants and cafés looked entirely different; they were lighter and less massive.
36 disassembled chairs including the screws were packed in a transport box with a volume of one cubic meter and shipped throughout the world. They were assembled on site – in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa.
Therefore, Thonet is considered a pioneer of industrial design, and the chair no. 14 – today 214 – is considered the most successful industrial product in the world: it established the starting point for the history of modern furniture.
By the year 1930 over 50 million of them had been produced. With its clear, reduced aesthetics, this classic has been finding a place in the most diverse environments for more than 150 years.
An anecdote tells us how the new Eiffel Tower restaurant in Paris was furnished with Thonet chairs. One chair fell from the first platform and a height of 57 meters to the ground and was not damaged! To date, the design, quality and durability give wings to Thonet furniture.