Rare Thonet model 21 rocking chair, in practical integrity. Vienna or Moravia, circa 1900.

Rare Thonet model 21 rocking chair. Vienna or Moravia, circa 1900. The piece is in excellent condition and integrity. With patina, shellac finish. In bent beechwood using steam (Thonet patent); original joinery. Seat and backrests in preserved hand-knotted Vienna cane. The rocking chair is fire-marked with the original manufacturer's stamp. Similar pieces of furniture are displayed in the Thonet furniture collection at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. Observe the last photo in this listing, which is a fanciful computer simulation where the original piece is virtually imagined in a high-end modern decor setting. N.B. The other furnishings in the photo, excluding our original offered piece, are not ours/available but are computer-simulated. Virtually associated with them, a stunning "modernity," luminosity, and abstraction emerge from a piece conceived over two centuries ago. With a great touch of class and elegance to the whole. The high Viennese antique cabinetmaking of the early designers, with its sober and minimalist elegance, strongly links to the lines of contemporary modern furniture. Early Viennese master design = clean lines, lightness, fine wood veneers, great craftsmanship. Contained dimensions and compatibility with modern apartments. A feeling of everyday and functional elegance. Perfect for minimalist contemporary interiors. History of the Michael Thonet Manufactory. In the years around 1830, Thonet experimented with veneer strips softened in boiling glue before inventing "bentwood furniture." In 1842, Prince Metternich, impressed by the talent of the Rhenish cabinetmaker, summoned him to Vienna. Here, Michael Thonet, with his sons, dedicated himself to creating parquet flooring and furniture for Liechtenstein Palace and Schwarzenberg Palace. With the creation of chair no. 4 for Daum's coffee house on Vienna's Kohlmarkt, he soon conquered the Viennese coffee house scene, laying the foundation for the development of furniture for the "community," i.e., public spaces. With the revolution of 1848, many people lost their jobs and found new employment in Thonet's new factories, where steam engines were in operation. Success came in 1859 when the Gebrüder Thonet company, founded by Michael's sons, presented chair no. 14 in bent solid wood, the famous "Vienna cane chair," now considered an icon of design history. The Thonet brothers soon understood the need to integrate new trends and technical developments into their work, embracing certain embryonic insights. From the outset, they presented their creations at the industrial and craft exhibitions of the time. The multilingual catalogs of Gebrüder Thonet contributed to the international recognition of their products, which soon became bestsellers. This led to the establishment of sales subsidiaries in neighboring countries as well as more distant ones, developing a worldwide distribution network for Thonet furniture. The development of an innovative technique for bending solid wood (hot steam), first through boiling glue, then by moistening it with steam generated by an autoclave, then giving it the desired curvature in metal molds and making it rigid again by drying in ovens. This latter process was patented in 1842. Michael Thonet died in Vienna in 1871, and the business was carried on by his sons. In accordance with the provisions of the New Code of Cultural Heritage, the selling company provides, concurrently with the sale, a detailed written photographic guarantee of originality and provenance of the sold works. The data with which the works are described and subsequently contained in the written guarantees are expressed determinations resulting from accurate and documented technical/historical/artistic investigations, even in the form of expert appraisals. Copying and duplication for commercial purposes and/or for describing other works for sale, even if considered in some way similar, are prohibited. Our Thonet furniture gallery. Click on the following link: Principessa Sissi ® antichità. High antique gallery in Udine Our antique armchair gallery. Click on the following link: Principessa Sissi ® antichità. High antique gallery in Udine