The Return of the Side Frame Chairs 
The side frame chairs from the first half of the 
19th century-seating furniture, with the seat 
and backrest installed between two side 
frames-all had four legs. In the course of the 
use of tubulär Steel for furniture, comparable 
constructions were produced in the 1920s, 
but at this time they didn’t end in individual 
legs, but rather in runners. In around 1930 this 
also affected the bentwood furniture: For ex- 
ample, the side frames of the model A 60 F, 
designed by Thonet Mundus in 1 929, each 
consist of a solid bent rod. In regard to the 
A 860 rocking chair-in which the side panels 
are designed as slightly curved runners-the 
Zentralanzeiger stated that the model “is based 
on the still fashionable tubulär Steel construc- 
tion, but in terms of structural strength, they 
are superior to tubulat steel furniture.” 1 The 
chair from the Tatra Company from the 1930s 
also has a side frame of rectangular bent solid 
wood. The construction insinuates a frame 
made of one piece; however, the runners are 
inserted only to reinforce the u-shaped bent 
side frames and do not touch the floor: Actu- 
ally, this chair is back on four feet. In 1 966, 
Verner Panton reiterated the idea of the 
continuous side frame with his Thonet model 
270 F. Flowever, its side frame construction is 
not made of solid bent wood, but-as was the 
case with the Thonet furniture from the Bop- 
pard period-of laminated beech. And even the 
Panton frame is not bent from one single piece, 
but of two identical u-shaped components, 
which are inserted into each other below the 
bolting of the seat. 2 
1 Thonet-Mundus Zentralanzeiger No. 99, Special issue July 1929, 3. 
2 This design is due to a more economic production process. 
Armlehnsessel Armchair 
Entwurf und Ausführung Design and execution: Tatra Werke, Bratislava, 1930er 
Jahre 1930s; Buche, massiv und gebogen, Sperrholz, Metall Beech, solid and 
bent, plywood, metal; MAK H 3736/2013 
Armlehnstuhl Armchair 270F 
Entwurf Design: Verner Panton, Dänemark / Deutschland 
Denmark/ Germany, 1965/66 
Ausführung Execution: A. Sommer, Plüdershausen, für for Thonet Frankenberg, 
1966-71; Buche, schichtverleimt, Sperrholz, Aluminium Beech, laminated, 
plywood, aluminum; Thonet Frankenberg 
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