Thonet
Thonet
Est. 1819
About
Thonet is a German furniture manufacturer known for bentwood and tubular-steel furniture, based in Frankenberg, Germany. The company, Thonet GmbH, is associated with some of the most widely produced chairs in furniture history and with the industrialisation of furniture making in the nineteenth century. Its catalogue covers chairs, tables and seating in both bentwood and tubular steel for residential and contract interiors. The company's history begins with the cabinetmaker Michael Thonet (1796–1871), who opened his first workshop in 1819 in Boppard, on the Rhine, and from the 1830s experimented with bending wood into furniture components. After moving to Vienna at the invitation of Austrian state chancellor Metternich, he established the business that, from 1853, traded as Gebrüder Thonet ("Thonet Brothers"), run with his sons. Thonet's defining product is the Chair No. 14, the so-called Vienna Coffee House Chair, introduced in 1859. Its technique of bending solid beech allowed near-industrial production from a small number of components, making the chair affordable and widely exportable; very large numbers were produced over the following decades. The design is frequently cited as a milestone in the history of mass-produced furniture. In the twentieth century Thonet also became a producer of tubular-steel furniture. From around 1930, following the takeover of the company Standard Möbel, it produced tubular-steel designs by Marcel Breuer, and the firm is associated with cantilevered tubular-steel chairs linked to the Bauhaus and modernist movement. These two strands — bentwood and tubular steel — remain central to its identity. Thonet GmbH continues to operate from Frankenberg, Germany, with members of the founding family still involved in the business. Its furniture is used in residential and contract settings and sold through dealers and its own channels internationally. As a manufacturer founded in 1819 and tied to the invention of bentwood furniture, Thonet occupies a central place in furniture history. (A separate company, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, traces to the same origins but operates independently.)
Specifications
- Categories
- homehospitalityoffice
- Price Range
- $$
- Founded
- 1819
- Headquarters
- Frankenberg, Germany
Resources
Common Questions
Thonet GmbH is headquartered in Frankenberg, Germany, where it also manufactures. It sells through dealers and its own channels internationally. Its furniture is used in residential and contract interiors.
Thonet traces its origins to 1819, when the cabinetmaker Michael Thonet opened his first workshop in Boppard, Germany. He later moved to Vienna, and from 1853 the business traded as Gebrüder Thonet. The company is associated with the invention of bentwood furniture.
Thonet is known for bentwood and tubular-steel furniture. Its defining product is the Chair No. 14, the Vienna Coffee House Chair of 1859, an early example of mass-produced furniture. From around 1930 it also produced tubular-steel designs by Marcel Breuer associated with the Bauhaus and modernism.
Thonet GmbH is a family-connected German company based in Frankenberg, with members of the founding Thonet family still involved in the business. A separate company, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, traces to the same nineteenth-century origins but operates independently. Thonet GmbH is the German bentwood and tubular-steel manufacturer.
Thonet products are sold internationally through dealers and the company's own channels, for residential and contract use. Buyers typically purchase through these channels. furniture.directory is an independent directory and does not sell furniture directly.