The German cabinet maker Michael Thonet (1796–1871) was the son of a master tanner. Following a carpenter’s apprenticeship, Thonet set himself up as an independent cabinetmaker at the age of 23. In the 1830s, he started experimenting with bentwood furniture. Michael Thonet demonstrated his products at many exhibitions. After one of these exhibitions, in 1841, he was invited to move from his hometown of Boppard to Vienna.

In the mid-19th century, Michael Thonet completed the development of his technique for making furniture out of beechwood bent in hot steam. This enabled him to design products of almost any shape. In 1849, Michael Thonet supplied chairs of model No. 4 to the Café Daum in Vienna. This was followed by an international breakthrough. Thonet was awarded medals at the World’s Fairs in London (1851) and Paris (1855).

Michael Thonet’s technique was characterized by rapid manufacturing and efficient use of materials, reducing the cost of chairs and armchairs. The design of such furniture combined perfect shapes with simplified components. Despite the successful innovations, it was not until 1857 that a transition from artisanal to industrial production was completed. The “Vienna” bentwood chair became the first mass-produced item of furniture in the second half of the 19th century.

In 1859, Michael Thonet triumphantly introduced his new chair to the market. He launched the mass production of Chair No. 14 — his simplest chair model, also considered by many to be his best one. It was assembled using screws, without the need for glue. The structure was extremely simple and was made up of only six pieces of wood.

36 disassembled chairs were packed in a transport box with a volume of one cubic meter. In this way, the chairs were shipped to stores throughout the Russian Empire. By 1870, the company’s founder retired, and company management was taken over by his sons.

Michael Thonet’s company went on to produce bentwood chairs on an unprecedented scale. Before World War I, tens of millions of such chairs had been manufactured. This was the first instance of large-scale mass production of furniture. In Russia, chairs were produced at factories in Reval and Novoradomsk.