Vitra – Miniature Thonet Chair No. 14

The ”fourteenis one of the most successful products from the industrial mass-production in the World. It was the standard model from the bentwood collection by Thonet and is considered as the typical Vienna coffee shop chair. More than 50 million copies were already sold in 1930. The “fourteenis still in production, but in a slightly modified form.

With the bentwood technique developed by Michael Thonet, solid wood is steamed three-dimensionally in iron molds, which offers great freedom in shaping. For the 2nd half of the 18th century, Thonets new shipping system was also revolutionary: the single parts of the chairs were packed in an extremely compact way, sent to their destination, and then screwed together. The Thonet brothers combined industrial production processes and economic thinking with an independent aesthetic and so significantly shaped the concept of industrial design.

The original of the chair No. 14 was designed by Michael Thonet in 1859/1860 and it is produced as a 1:1 model by the Gebr. Thonet, Vienna/ Gebr. Thonet, Frankenberg/ Thonet Industries Inc. since 1865.

The miniature version, presented here by Vitra (scale 1:6), consists of dyed and lacquered beech wood.