The 1876 World Fair in Philadelphia
ln keeping with the taste of the times, the
furniture presented at the 1876 World Fair
in Philadelphia was more elaborate than
ever betöre: An example of this is the lavishly
decorated rocking chair No. 1, in which the
caning is replaced by voluminous upholstery
and the formerly clear line of bentwood rods
was interrupted by turned, carved, and gilded
elements applied to it. The ornamental deco-
ration culminated in two swans with splayed
wings, by which the bentwood rods rising
from the runners were completely concealed,
as well as in a carved top piece, which crown-
ed the crest rail. 1 However, yet another, by
today’s Standards far more elegant and sem-
inal specimen of rocking furniture was shown
in Philadelphia, the rocking sofa which had
recently been developed in Bystfice pod
Hostynem: It seems as though Le Corbusier,
Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret took
this design as model for their tubulär Steel
chaise longue B 306, which was designed in
1928 and, starting in 1930, was also pro-
duced by Thonet. 2 In addition, the so-called
“chaise longue a reglage continu” of the
French architects also received a fixed base
on which adjustable section rests loosely and
whose inclination angle can thus be variably
adjusted. The reference to the bentwood
model is indeed all the more obvious when
used without the fixed base.
1 The exhibit was decorated and upholstered by the Viennese
decorating Studio Atelier Anton Fix. The furnishing and decorating
Company based at Wienstraße 33 (now Rechte Wienzeile) merged
with August Portois in 1881 and from 1884 it traded as a furniture
manufacturer under the name of “Portois & Fix."
2 For the history of the design see George Marcus, Le Corbusier, im
Innern der Wohnmaschine, Munich 2000, in particular, 94-145.
Die Chaiselongue von Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret
und Charlotte Perriand als Schaukelmöbel
The Chaise Longue by Le Corbusier, Pierre
Jeanneret, and Charlotte Perriand as a Rocking Sofa
Schaukelsofa Rocking Sofa
Entwurf Design: Gebrüder Thonet/August Thonet, um ca. 1875
Ausführung Execution: Gebrüder Thonet, Bistritz Bystrice, Radomsk, um ca. 1890;
Buche, massiv und gebogen, Geflecht Beech, solid and bent, cane; MAK H 2935/1987
Chaiselongue Chaise Longue B 306, „Chaise longue ä reglage continu“
Entwurf Design: Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, Paris, 1928
Ausführung Execution: Thonet Freres, Paris, um ca. 1935; Stahl, Textil, Gummi
Steel, textile, rubber; Sammlung Collection Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
