Behold Chair No. 4, one of the first models that Michael Thonet developed in his Vienna workshop, which he set up in the city’s Gumpendorf neighbourhood in 1849. Initially, Thonet had only made chairs for upper-class Viennese residences, but the No. 4 was used in Café Daum in the centre of Vienna, which had been furnished during the Biedermeier period. It was the first bentwood coffee house chair and became a standard in the traditional Viennese coffee houses. The chair’s development also illustrates how Thonet refined his bending technique. Around 1850, it was made of bent laminated wood. After developing the technique of bending solid wood, patented in 1856, the model was produced in a small series from bent solid beech. The variety of materials in furniture design is almost endless. In this series, @vitradesignmuseum gives an insight into this diversity, and presents objects from their collection which stand out through their innovative use of material. Learn more about the world of materials in #AtlasOfFurnitureDesign - available through your favorite independent #bookstorehero or ARTBOOK.com! #Repost @vitradesignmuseum ・・・ #VDMHomeStories #MaterialMatters #Bentwood #VitraDesignMuseum #MichaelThonet #material #design #furniture #furnituredesign #collection #encyclopedia #publication #book #designbook #designhistory #history #moderndesign #modernfurnituredesign #designicon #designlovers #designer #museum #culturedoesntstop #museenbasel #lovebasel #basel #weilamrhein Image: Michael Thonet, Nr. 4, c. 1849/50 © Vitra Design Museum, photo: Jürgen Hans https://www.instagram.com/p/CH7uv2JJw59/?igshid=194w0mg9n2zko