The bentwood Vienna chair was invented by German furniture maker Michael Thonet around 1850. It was the first piece of furniture to be manufactured in factory quantities in the second half of 19th century. They used mainly beech wood to make such chairs. Specially prepared elements of the chair would be treated with steam and given the necessary bent shape. The idea of such chairs came to Thonet after moving to Vienna, hence the name.

Bentwood Vienna furniture gained popularity, it was ordered from America, Asian and European countries. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 1,200 models in the catalogues of Brothers Thonet company, with two million pieces of furniture produced at the factory per year.

In 1889 Brothers Thonet started supplying bentwood chairs and armchairs to the Imperial Court. The furniture would be ordered and bought for country residences, it decorated balconies and verandas of summer palaces. In the 1890s the company opened two factories in the Russian Empire — nowadays this territory belongs to Estonia and Poland. The workshops and factories Thonet ceased to exist during the Revolution of 1917.

The chair, presented at the exhibition, was made in the late 19th century — in the modern era. Compared to a classic bentwood chair, the model is more elongated. The exact factory number of the chair in the catalogue of Brothers Thonets could not be determined, as it resembles several models at once. Presumably the chair, like most bentwood furniture, is made of steam-processed beech wood.