The 1851 World Fair in London
After already participating in a series of exhi-
bitions while still in Boppard and the presen-
tation of his products in the Lower Austrian
Trade Association in 1850, the London World
Fair in 1851 was Michael Thonet’s first inter
national appearance. 1 Accordingly, the furni-
ture shown there were masterpieces of crafts-
manship-highlights of an extremely complex
manufacturing technology and thus financially
unaffordable for a bourgeois audience. Tech-
nically and formally, the seating furniture was
still based on the Liechtenstein chairs, but
now, for the first time, a complete set was of-
fered. At the same time, these pieces of furni
ture form the end point in the development of
handcrafted individual and luxury products,
since the technique of glued rod bundles was
already obsolete as a manufacturing process
at this time. The technology for bending solid
wood from 1855 and the factory built in
Korycany, only a year later, made it possible
to produce furniture in bulk and at unrivaled
cheap prices. Gebrüder Thonet began to
reach out to a broader consumer base, which
contributed significantly to its economic suc-
cess in the following decades. The luxury Seg
ment, on the other hand, was to play a role
only in the production of elaborate tables 2
and parquet floors for some palaces-primarily
in Vienna.
1 Cf, Hermann Heller, Von der kleinen Tischlerwerkstätte zum
Weltindustriehaus, Brno 1926, 20 ff.
2 These tables-the most expensive of which were offered for the
proud price of 600 guilders-are likely to have been variants of the
London exhibits. Cf. Advertisement in: Die Presse, 17 January
1854.
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Sessel Chair, präsentiert auf der Weltausstellung 1851 presented at the 1851 World Fair in London
Entwurf Design: Michael Thonet, Wien Vienna, 1850
Ausführung Execution: Michael Thonet, Wien Vienna, Werkstatt Gumpendorf, ab Herbst as of 1850;
Palisander, stab-/schichtverleimt, Messingstreifen, Geflecht Rosewood, rod bundles/laminated,
brass Strips, cane; Firmensammlung Company Collection TON
101
