Designer · Germany / Austria · 1796–1871
Michael Thonet
Michael Thonet (1796–1871) – German-Austrian cabinetmaker, pioneer of industrial bentwood furniture production and creator of chair no. 14.
About the designer
- Lifetime
- 1796–1871
- Country
- Germany / Austria
Michael Thonet was born in 1796 in Boppard. In 1819, he opened his own workshop there, and in the 1830s experimented with furniture made from bent, laminated veneer. In 1842, at the urging of Prince Metternich, he moved with his family to Vienna.
In 1849, he founded his own company, which he transferred to his sons in 1853 as Gebrüder Thonet. From around 1850, his chairs were used at Vienna’s Daum café (chair no. 4). Over time, he replaced laminated wood with steam-bent beech rods. In 1857, production began at the factory in Koryčany, Moravia.
In 1859, chair no. 14 was created (today model 214), with approximately 60 million units produced. Thonet died in Vienna in 1871.
