THONET, Michael
Austrian cabinet-maker of German birth. Around 1830 he began to develop the bentwood technique (long, narrow veneers glued together) to make Biedermeier chairs in Boppard; his new technique made it easier and cheaper to produce bold designs. In 1841, he applied for a patent in France and exhibited his bentwood products in Koblenz, after which Prince Klemens von Metternich invited him to move to Vienna. In 1842, Thonet presented his furniture to the Niederösterreichische Kunstgewerbeverein and received a licence authorizing him to practise in Vienna. From that time, he and his sons, Franz (1820-1898), Michael (1824-1902), August (1829-1910), Josef (1830-1887) and Jakob (1841-1929), began to produce cheap furniture in the workshop of the Viennese master joiner Clemens List. From 1843 to 1847, Thonet worked under the direction of the English architect Peter Hubert Desvignes (1804-1883), together with Carl Leistler, on the refurbishment of the Baroque Palais Liechtenstein in Vienna; Thonet made the parquet floors and produced several extremely light stools.
In 1849, Thonet started his own cabinetmaking business and, in 1850, he was commissioned to make chairs to furnish the Café Daum, Vienna. In 1851, he exhibited luxury furniture, which reflected the contemporary taste for Rococo, at the Great Exhibition in London. In 1852, he applied for a licence to bend laminated veneers in any direction (although he had already applied this technique to the furniture for the Palais Liechtenstein), and he set up a shop in central Vienna. In 1853, he made the business over to his five sons, and in 1856 the Gebrüder Thonet applied for a licence to bend solid wood.
It was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that the factory started to be truly successful with its serial manufacture of bentwood furniture, in particular its chair No. 14, which is still produced today. The company also produced furniture to designs by major Jugendstil artists such as Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffmann, and thereby made a significant contribution to the history of 20th-century furniture design.
