Rare and exquisite original Thonet sofa from the production phase of around 1870-80 with the manufacturer's branded mark.

Rare and exquisite original Thonet sofa from the production phase of around 1880-85. The piece is in excellent condition, consolidated and restored to the highest standards. It has a patina and is suitable for daily use. Made of steam-bent beechwood (Thonet patent); original assembly. Similar furniture is exhibited at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. Measurements: 92 cm max height, 125 cm width, 50 cm depth. Seat height: 47 cm, armrest height: 66 cm. With the original manufacturer's branded mark. In excellent condition. Patina and signs of use consistent with its age. Elegant and understated original antique piece of furniture with a warm light tone. P.S. The first models made around the middle of the century or soon after, first in Boppard, then in Moravia, are landmark objects in the history of design and furniture and of museum significance. In the 1830s, Thonet conducted his experiments with veneer strips softened in boiling glue before inventing "bentwood furniture". In 1842, Prince Metternich, impressed by the talent of the Rhenish cabinetmaker, called him to Vienna. Here, Michael Thonet dedicated himself, with his sons, to creating parquet floors and furniture for the Liechtenstein Palace and the Schwarzenberg Palace. With the creation of chair no. 4 for the Daum café on Kohlmarkt in Vienna, he quickly conquered the Viennese café scene, laying the foundation for the development of the furniture sector intended for the "community", i.e., public spaces. With the revolution of 1848, many people lost their jobs and found other employment in Thonet's new factories, where steam engines were in operation. Success came in 1859, when Michael's sons' company, Gebrüder Thonet, presented chair no. 14 in solid bentwood, the famous "Vienna straw chair," now considered an icon of design history. The Thonet brothers quickly understood the need to integrate new trends and technical developments into their work, adopting certain still-embryonic intuitions. From the beginning, they presented their creations at the industrial and craft exhibitions of the time. Gebrüder Thonet's multilingual catalogs helped make the products known abroad, and they soon became bestsellers. Sales branches were thus established in neighboring countries as well as in more distant ones, eventually developing a distribution network for Thonet furniture around the world. The development of an innovative technique for bending solid wood (hot steam), first by boiling the glue, then by humidifying it with water vapor generated by an autoclave, and then giving it the desired curvature in metal molds and making it rigid again by drying it in ovens. The latter procedure was then patented in 1842. Michael Thonet died in Vienna in 1871, and the business was carried on by his sons. The most valuable original Thonet furniture is that made in the "artisanal and design" phase of the full 19th century. The first models made around the middle of the century, first in Boppard, then in Moravia, are landmark objects in the history of design and furniture and of museum significance. In accordance with the provisions of the New Code of Cultural Heritage, the selling company provides, at the time of sale, a detailed written photographic guarantee of the authenticity and provenance of the works sold. The data with which the works are described and then contained in the written guarantees are express determinations resulting from accurate and documented technical/historical/artistic investigations, even of expert significance. Visit our virtual museum gallery. Click on the following link: Principessa Sissi ® antiques. Gallery of high antiques Our gallery of genuine nineteenth-century marked Thonet furniture. Click on this link below: Principessa Sissi ® antiques. Gallery of high antiques in Udine Our gallery of antique sofas. Click on this link: Principessa Sissi ® antiques. Gallery of high antiques in Udine