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Image source: Thonet — S 43 Tubular Steel Chair

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S 43 Tubular Steel Chair

Name: S 43 Tubular Steel Chair
Brand: Thonet

Mart Stam's 1931 cantilever chair with moulded plywood seat and back on a steel tube frame.

Designer

Mart Stam

Brand

Thonet

Dimensions

440 × 820 × 520 mm

Year

1931

Origin

Germany

Materials

Tubular steelMoulded plywood (oak or beech)Powder coatingFlat upholstery (PV versions)

Finishes

Chrome-platedDeep black RAL 9005Pure white RAL 9010Deep black RAL 9005 mattPearl white RAL 1013 mattTomato red RAL 3013 mattBeige grey RAL 7006 mattOak clear varnishedOak brightenedOak stained blackBeech clear varnishedBeech stained brightenedBeech stained walnutBeech stained cherryBeech stained mahoganyBeech stained dark brownBeech stained black

Colors

ChromeDeep blackPure whitePearl whiteTomato redBeige greyAmber yellowCoral agateRuby redCobalt blueEmerald green

Style

Modernism

Official product information

INTEBEE AI PUBLIC LIBRARY is an independent furniture design research and discovery platform. Product specifications, finishes, availability and other details may change. For current and definitive information, please refer to the manufacturer's official website.

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Description

Overview

The S 43 is a cantilever side chair by Mart Stam, dated 1931 on Thonet's product page. Seat and backrest are moulded plywood on a tubular steel frame, and Thonet describes the result as the greatest possible reduction. The programme includes versions with armrests, flat upholstery, a stackable frame, a swivel base, bar stools and a child's chair.

Construction

The frame is tubular steel, chrome-plated or powder-coated, and the cantilever construction has no rear legs. Thonet writes that the springing frame makes upholstery unnecessary; a flat upholstered seat and back (S 43 PV) is nevertheless offered. The S 43 and S 43 PV stand on gliders.

Specifications

Dimensions (S 43): W 44 cm x D 52 cm x H 82 cm
Weight: 6.2 kg
Seat height: 46 cm
Made in: Frankenberg, Germany
S 43 F with armrests: W 56 cm x D 52 cm x H 82 cm, seat height 46 cm, 6.8 kg

Story

A chair without rear legs

Thonet's brochure dates the design of this cantilever chair without back legs to 1931 and calls it a design that made history through its timeless form. Mart Stam combined the steel frame with moulded plywood shells for seat and back, and the maker reports that the chair needs no upholstery because the frame flexes comfortably. Thonet today owns the artistic copyright for the strictly cubic form.

Long table with white chairs in a room with a large window Image source: Thonet — S 43 Tubular Steel 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

Leipzig, 1933 and later

The page records one reference in particular: the reading hall for natural sciences of the German National Library in Leipzig was furnished with the S 43 in 1933. More than 70 years later Thonet delivered further chairs to complete the existing furniture, which the company takes as proof of the durability of tubular steel furniture. In 2021 Thonet marked the 90th anniversary of the S 43 with a new colour collection for the child's version, curated by the Hamburg studio Besau Marguerre.

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S 33 / S 34 Cantilever Chair

Mart Stam's armless cantilever chair of 1926, one of the first without rear legs.