Thonet, the story of an industrial dynasty

Thonet is a name that counts in the history of design. Since 1819 and the beginnings of Michael Thonet in Boppard-on-the-Rhine, this name of German-Austrian origin has been at the forefront of industrial mass production of furniture. The adventure of this family of outstanding entrepreneurs could have ended with the First and Second World Wars. However, the direct descendants of the founder of the Thonet dynasty, Michael Thonet, continue to produce and distribute bentwood furniture around the world, the hallmark of the company launched over 150 years ago. If Thonet symbolises industrial success, its history is also closely linked to that of the most creative designers of their time. It all began with Michael Thonet , born in 1796 in Boppard, a town on the Rhine near Koblenz. The son of a master tanner, Michael Thonet set up his own business as a joiner and cabinetmaker in 1819, producing furniture in the "Biedermeier" style, a term used to describe a certain art of living in German-speaking countries between 1815 and 1848. He made wardrobes, beds, tables and chairs in a light, undecorated style, with cherry, pear or mahogany veneers. The story accelerated in 1953 when Michael Thonet decided to found the company "Thonet frères" and transform his business into a company established in the name of his 5 sons. The family patriarch's stroke of genius was that he quickly realised that if his company was to succeed, it would have to mass-produce furniture to suit the market. In a way, it was a vision ahead of its time of what would become mass consumption. To succeed in industrialising his furniture, Michael Thonet understood that the constituent parts of his wooden creations had to be interchangeable. In other words, they had to be mass-produced and interchangeable, so that a wide variety of models could be produced in the factory. The economic benefits are unstoppable: this method will enable him to reduce the number of individual parts, thereby keeping production and storage costs low. The story of a prodigious industrial success story was now underway... [caption id="attachment6589" align="aligncenter" width="551"] Michael Thonet and his children, around 1840. © www.didatticarte.it www.didatticarte.it [/caption] The Thonet family decided to move into industrial mass production and had a factory built in the forests of Moravia, in Koristschan to be exact. This was an astute choice, as it allowed the company to be close to the raw materials, take advantage of a railway line, and employ a poor workforce on site. This is how, in 1859, the emblematic piece of the global success of Thonet frères was born, a piece that continues to be distributed throughout the world today: the n°14 consumer chair. [caption id="attachment6590" align="aligncenter" width="541"] Left: A THONET n°14 bistro chair from 1859 - Internet credit. www.terre-meuble.fr www.terre-meuble.fr Right: The Thonet 214 chair, presented on the brand's website in 2016. © fr.shop.thonet.de fr.shop.thonet.de [/caption] Made up of just 6 parts - the backrest and rear legs are a single piece, the inside of the screw-down backrest, the seat, the two front legs and a stabiliser ring for the four legs - the various elements fit together naturally. The model is therefore ideal for mass production: few parts, lightweight and, above all, the furniture can be assembled and exported quickly. Thonet invented the kit, long before IKEA! The chair fits into a box measuring around 1 M3, which can hold up to 36 chairs when dismantled. The chair's low price also contributed to its worldwide success: chair n°14: chair n°14: chair n°14, later named chair 214, later named chair 214, chair 214, became the most popular chair model of the 19th century. Between 1859 and 1930, 50 million chairs were sold worldwide! It is still the most widely produced chair in the world. Many cafés and brasseries adopted this light, stackable chair, hence its nickname "the Bistro chair". It became the most popular chair model of the 19th century. Between 1859 and 1930, 50 million chairs were sold worldwide! It is still the most widely produced chair in the world. Many cafés and brasseries have adopted this light, stackable chair, hence its nickname of "Bistro Chair". [caption id="attachment6602" align="aligncenter" width="471"] 36 THONET n°14 chairs disassembled inside a crate, Thonet invented the Kit long before IKEA © www.terre-meuble.fr www.terre-meuble.en[/caption] In 1860, Thonet frères brought out a new model that would go down in design history: the rocking chair n°1 the rocking chair n°1 the rocking chair n°1 or "rocking chair", which made full use of the bentwood technique patented by Michael Thonet on previous models. The company invented the archetypal rocking chair. The model created by Thonet was a resounding success in the United States, unlike in Europe, where sitting was synonymous with old age. In response to demand, dozens of variations of the original model invaded the American market. To ensure the success of his best-sellers, Michael Thonet worked hard to develop the bentwood technique. He drew inspiration from other fields, such as cooperage and boatbuilding, which were looking to exploit the natural elasticity of wood. His revolutionary idea was to boil sheets of wood of the same thickness in glue to give them the desired curvature. [caption id="attachment6603" align="aligncenter" width="485"] Thonet Frères, Rocking Chair, 1860. © www.interieurites.com [/caption] At the beginning of the 20th century, Thonet Frères was a prosperous company. The firm employed nearly 6,500 workers and produced 1.8 million pieces of furniture in 1913 alone. At the end of the First World War, the company weakened, export markets collapsed and it merged with the Kohn-Mundus group to form a single holding company. World War II, the company weakened, export markets collapsed and it merged with the Kohn-Mundus group to form a single holding company. It was Le Corbusier Le Corbusier Le Corbusier , an admirer of Thonet's ingenuity and design, who first brought the famous manufacturer out of its lethargy by choosing to exhibit the brand's 6009 model in the Pavillon de l'Esprit Nouveau at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. A new generation of architects and designers would then revive Thonet's creativity... [caption id="attachment6604" align="aligncenter" width="431"] Thonet Frères, Chair model 6009 © www.pinterest.com www.pinterest.com [/caption] [caption id="attachment6605" align="aligncenter" width="528"] Thonet chairs installed in the Maisons La Roche-Jeanneret, 1923. House designed by Le Corbusier, a great admirer of Thonet chair design © fr.thonet.de fr.thonet.de [/caption] In the 1920s, the Bauhaus School laid the foundations of modern architecture. At this prestigious school, the greatest artists and designers of the turn of the century taught the younger generation drawing, architecture and the plastic arts, or simply collaborated with the famous institute. Among them were Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Breuer Marcel Breuer Marcel Breuer , Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe , , Le Corbusier Le Corbusier Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1926, the Dutch architect and chair designer Mart Stam invented a cantilever chair based on steel tubes, i.e. a seat with no legs at the back. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe found out about the Dutchman's work and shared it with Marcel Breuer, then a professor at the Bauhaus. Breuer and Stam went on to design chair models based on the cantilever chair principle, but using the novelty of the time: tubular steel. The discovery of the cantilever chair, a type of cantilever chair with suspension and no back legs, is now considered one of the most important design discoveries of the 20th century. And it was Thonet that produced these chairs, which have since become classics in its range and are considered to be classics in the history of design. For example, the chair model S33 chair model S33 chair model S33 by Stam by Stam , , , considered to be the 1 considered to be the 1 st cantilever chair in the history of furniture, presented for the 1 st cantilever chair in the history of furniture, presented for the 1 st time in 1927 and which has since become a Thonet classic , is still produced today. Other models such as the S 32, S 64 S 32, S 64 S 32, S 64 and the cantilever armchair and cantilever armchair S 35 S 35 S 35 by Marcel Breuer, or the armchair by Marcel Breuer, or the armchair S 533 S 533 S 533 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe make Thonet the 1 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe make Thonet the 1 st world manufacturer of tubular steel furniture. world manufacturer of tubular steel furniture. [caption id="attachment6611" align="aligncenter" width="445"] Mart Stam's S33 chair (artistic copyright), 1926, a classic still produced by Thonet. © fr.thonet.de fr.thonet.de [/caption] [caption id="attachment6612" align="aligncenter" width="441"] Marcel Breuer's S 32 chair (Model S 64 with armrests), Mart Stam artistic copyright, 1929/30. © en.shop.thonet.de fr.shop.thonet.de [/caption] [caption id="attachment6613*" align="aligncenter" width="398"] S 533 R armchair, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1927. © en.thonet.de fr.thonet.de [/caption] After the Second World War, Thonet went through another difficult period and its factories in Eastern Europe were expropriated. Its central factory on Stephanplatz in Vienna was even destroyed. Fortunately, at the end of the 1940s, Georg Thonet, the great-grandson of founder Michael Thonet, had the Frankenberg/Eder factory rebuilt in the north of the country. The Thonet dynasty was born again, and the brand continued to attract the most brilliant designers and architects. Proof of the historical imprint left by the furniture manufacturer, the famous MoMA in New York devoted an exhibition to Thonet in 1953. Fruitful collaborations between the Thonet brand and world-renowned designers include the famous S-chair S-chair S-chair ( ( model 275 model 275 model 275 ) in original white, designed in 1956 by ) in original white, designed in 1956 by Verner Panton Verner Panton Verner Panton and produced from 1965 by Thonet. Made from plywood, it was inspired by the equally famous Thonet and was produced from 1965 onwards. In plywood, it is inspired by Rietveld's no less famous zigzag chair zigzag chair zigzag chair zigzag chair. The list of talented designers who have collaborated with Thonet over the past 60 years would be long. Among them: Egon Eiermann, from Rietveld. For 60 years, the list of talented designers who have collaborated with Thonet would be long. Among them: Egon Eiermann, Pierre Paulin Pierre Paulin Pierre Paulin , Gerd Lange, Hartmut Lohmeyer, Ulrich Böhme and Wulf Schneider, Lord Norman Foster, James Irvine, Piero Lissoni, Stefan Diez, Läufer + Keichel, and many more. Thonet brings together the world's top designers! Gerd Lange, Hartmut Lohmeyer, Ulrich Böhme and Wulf Schneider, Lord Norman Foster, James Irvine, Piero Lissoni, Stefan Diez, Läufer + Keichel, and many more. Thonet brings together the world's top designers! [caption id="attachment6615" align="aligncenter" width="376"] French CM 141 oak desk by Pierre Paulin, published by Thonet in the 1950s. French CM 141 oak desk by Pierre Paulin, published by Thonet in the 1950s. [caption] [caption id="attachment6621" align="aligncenter" width="387"] Verner Panton, S-shaped chair (model 275), manufactured by Thonet from 1965. catalog.quittenbaum.de catalog.quittenbaum.de [/caption] The company is now run by a direct descendant of Michael Thonet, Peter Thonet, assisted by other members of the family. They carry on the creative spirit of the world's oldest furniture brand. The headquarters and production site are located in Frankenberg/Eder, Germany. While Thonet is known for its famous bentwood furniture and classic tubular steel furniture from the Bauhaus era, the brand continues to enrich its collections with creations by renowned contemporary architects and designers. So the Thonet dynasty is not about to die out! [caption id="attachment6622*" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Two or three-seater armchair and sofa, "model S 5001 - high high", design James Irvine, 2006, published by Thonet © fr.shop.thonet.de fr.shop.thonet.de [/caption] Written by François Boutard Written by François Boutard

Thonet, the story of an industrial dynasty

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