Thonet

Bentwood furniture manufacturer (founded in 1819)

Born in 1796 in Boppard, Rhineland, Michael Thonet opened his cabinetmaking workshop in 1819. There, he developed a technique that would revolutionize furniture: wood bending, initially using glued veneers, then steam-bent solid beechwood. Noticed by Chancellor Metternich, he relocated to Vienna in 1842, where he notably contributed to the furnishing of the Liechtenstein Palace. Awarded at the Great Exhibition of London in 1851, he founded the firm Gebrüder Thonet in 1853 alongside his five sons. Chair No. 4, created for Café Daum in Vienna, established his reputation. In 1859, the famous Chair No. 14—lightweight, sturdy, and shipped as flat-pack parts—became the first piece of furniture produced on a mass industrial scale. Sold in tens of millions of examples, it still furnishes cafés throughout the world. Upon Michael Thonet's death in 1871, the company owned several factories in Central Europe and showrooms worldwide, including on Boulevard Poissonnière in Paris. Ever since, bent beechwood and caned chairs, armchairs, sofas, and salon suites have embodied the elegance of Viennese cafés and interiors.