bentwood

Today, you wouldn’t exactly consider these wooden chairs with scrolls and contoured backs as modern, but when they first appeared they were light years ahead of their time. In fact, it was in the mid 1800s when German cabinetmaker-turned-chair-revolutionary, Michael Thonet, unveiled the silhouettes we’re so familiar with today – the bentwood chairs. It was the first time such a production method was used – heating wood to bend it into improbable chairs. The result was graceful, sculptural and surprisingly comfortable seating.