209 M / 209M Bentwood Classic Contoured Seat Thonet

209 M bentwood chair by Thonet

A masterpiece in construction and manufacturing - the 209 bentwood chair from Thonet. Its cantilevered handle, which forms both the backrest and the armrest, is bent into its shape from solid beech wood. Like the well-known original model of the bentwood chair No. 214, the chair consists of only six parts. The aesthetic reductionin combination with the organic form creates an almost sculptural expression.

The Swiss architect Le Corbusier was also enthusiastic about the design and used it in the Weißenhof settlement in Stuttgart in 1927.

Thonet brothers

The sons of Michael Thonet Franz, August, Josef, Jakob and Michael jun. joined the company in 1853 and continued it after the death of their father in 1871. The brothers designed new machines and work processes, developed existing designs further and also created new furniture designs. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the third generation of the family - Karl, Julius, Theodor, Alfred, Victor and Richard - found their place in the company.

Thonet - 200 years of tradition

The Frankenberg-based manufacturer stands for durability and an irrepressible drive for innovation. Thonet was the first manufacturer to market bentwood furniture and distribute tubular steel furniture. Michael Thonet founded his own workshop in Boppard am Rhein in 1819. In the 1830s, he experimented with veneer strips cooked in glue and is therefore regarded as the inventor of "furniture made of curved wood". In 1842 he was invited to Vienna by the Austrian State Chancellor Prince Metternich and the coffee house culture there laid the foundation for Thonet's later success. Given this willingness to innovate, it is not surprising that Thonet also cultivated links with the Bauhaus and Marcel Breuer. Thonet, for example, implemented his experiments with cold-bent steel tubing and produced the well-known cantilever chairs.

Material and size

Chair 209 is 54 cm wide, 57 cm deep and 75 cm high. The seat height is 46 cm. It is made of stained beech wood with a moulded plywood seat.