209 Bentwood Chair

Overview

The 209 is a bentwood armchair credited on Thonet's page to Gebrüder Thonet, 1900. A single bent piece of solid beech forms both backrest and armrest, and the seat is canework with supporting synthetic mesh. Thonet notes that, like the original model 214, it consists of only six parts.

Construction

The projecting frame, which forms back and armrest in one, is bent from one length of solid beech wood. The brochure lists the frame wood as beech, clear varnished or stained in six colours, and the seat weave as canework on a synthetic support mesh, also offered in a dark melange. The 209 P has an upholstered seat; the related 210 R and 210 P have a different back.

Specifications

• Dimensions (209): W 54 cm x D 57 cm x H 75 cm
• Seat height: 46 cm
• Armrest height: 70 cm
• Weight: 3.5 kg
• Made in: Frankenberg, Germany

One bent frame

Thonet calls the 209 a masterpiece of construction and production: the frame that carries back and arms is bent in one piece from solid beech, and, like no. 214, the chair needs only six parts. The company adds that its reduced, organic form makes it look almost like a sculpture.

Image source: Thonet — 209 Bentwood Chair · © Thonet and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Le Corbusier's choice

Thonet writes that the Swiss architect Le Corbusier was fascinated by the chair and used it in many of his buildings, among them the Weissenhof Estate in Stuttgart in 1927, and that he remarked of it that it "possesses nobility." The page dates the chair to 1900 and credits Gebrüder Thonet, the Vienna firm that Michael Thonet's sons joined in 1853.