Thonet chairs changed the face of furniture design. From the first models to the timeless bentwood classics, they remain icons of 19th-century craftsmanship.

This collection brings together Thonet’s most fascinating works — from the early experiments to the legendary café chair no. 14, alongside rare commissions for the Palais Liechtenstein and Palais Pálffy.

Thonet Chair Model No. 14

Crafted: Solid bent beech, brown stained; cane weave.

As early as the 1850s, when Thonet’s furniture had become a major commercial success, competing firms began producing imitations. These rivals, however, lacked the patented rights that allowed Thonet to bend solid wood in three dimensions. The chair on display, a variant of the famous Model No. 14, was crafted by an unknown Viennese cabinetmaker using what was already an outdated method: laminated veneer bundles bent in only one plane. To simulate a three-dimensional curve, additional layers and joinery were applied. In terms of proportion and execution, the result appears somewhat clumsy compared to the Thonet original.

Learn More Still curious? Click here to learn how to tell if a thonet chair is real.

Crafted: Solid beech, partly bent with laminated layers, brown stained; cane weave.

By the early 20th century, more than 40 million units of this model — marketed by Thonet as the "consumer chair" — had reportedly been sold worldwide. In Thonet’s sales catalogs, this functionally designed piece, made from just six components, was the most affordable seating option available. Popularly known as the “three-guilder chair,” it earned its nickname due to its low price and widespread accessibility.

Learn More Still curious about bentwood furniture? Click here to see Thonet rocking chair.

Thonet Chair Model No. 22 made for the Palais Pálffy

Crafted: Beechwood, laminated and solid bent; cane weave.

Learn More Still curious? Click here to see Thonet Children and Doll Furniture.

Thonet Chair for the Liechtenstein City Palace

Crafted: Rosewood, solid and partly carved, rod- and laminated-bent; original silk damask upholstery.

In the mid-1840s, Michael Thonet received his first major commission in Vienna: furnishing the Liechtenstein City Palace, which was undergoing extensive renovation at the time. Working from designs by the Anglo-Austrian architect Peter Hubert Desvignes, Thonet produced both intricate parquet flooring and seating furniture. It was during this project that he first applied his newly developed lamination technique, which made it possible to bend wood in three dimensions — a groundbreaking development in Thonet history and the evolution of furniture making.

Learn More Still curious about bentwood furniture? Click here to see Thonet Settee and Table.

Thonet Chair Model No. 34

Crafted: Solid bent and turned beech, black stained; cane weave.

Learn More Still curious about bentwood furniture? Click here to see Thonet Chair and Armchair Model No. 1, 2 & 4.

Thonet Chair Model No. 51

Crafted: Solid bent beech, brown stained; cane weave.

Learn More Still curious about bentwood furniture? Click here to see Thonet Chair and Armchair Model No. 7, 8, 11 & 12.

Thonet Chair Model No. 91

Crafted: Solid bent beech, brown stained; brass fittings; cane weave.

Learn More Still curious about bentwood furniture? Click here to see the iconic Thonet Boppard Chair.

Thonet Chair Model No. 110

Crafted: Turned beech; perforated plywood, brown stained.

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