Vienna 1842-1856 
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Thonet’scher Parkettboden im Palais Clam Gallas, Wien, Salle de Reunion 
(oben), Salon Beige (unten), 1856 Thonet parquet flooring in Palais Clam 
Gallas, Vienna, Salle de Reunion (above), Salon Beige (below), 1856 
In the spring of 1842 Michael Thonet arrived in Vienna, having traveled 
there with the coach of the diplomatic Courier. His financier from Boppard, 
Johann Walter van Meerten, accompanied him. On 14 May, just a few 
days after their arrival, both applied for a right to “bend any type of wood 
into all forms imaginable using a chemo-mechanical method 11 This 
right was approved by the Royal Imperial Court Chamber on 16 July-a 
fact which was in itself not unusual for foreigners such as Michael Thonet. 
In the first half of the 19th Century, the granting of Privileges was a com 
mon form of promoting industry-in the spirit of mercantilism, according 
to which the common interest was essentially seen as identical to the 
interest of the state. The guilds and their strict Orders which had 
emerged in the Middle Ages were an obstacle to the introduction of 
new and the expansion of existing trades and industries. Already early 
on, the authorities had created a means to also allow persons who did 
not come from the local guild or who-like Michael Thonet-were for 
eigners to pursue a trade, namely through the right to grant Privileges. 
The main purpose of this was to create jobs or satisfy the needs of the 
population. Michael Thonet’s first Austrian privilege from 1842, the other 
Privileges from 28 July 1852 and 10 July 1856, the simple factory warrant 
from 8 July 1855, the “state factory warrant to produce furniture, parquet, 
and other wood products" from 9 November 1857, the transfer of this 
federal authorization to Moravia on 14 September 1858: All of these 
measures were protectionist in nature and served to protect him from 
attacks carried out by his colleagues and to make him independent from 
the joiner’s guild. 
However, due to a lack of Capital Michael Thonet was not yet able to es- 
tablish his own business or to exploit this privilege independently in 1842. 
In the first years in Vienna, he worked for the furniture manufacturers List 
and Leistier. At Franz List, located at 72 Mariahilfer Straße, Thonet made 
cheap chairs made of bentwood, as objections made by the Vienna guilds 
prevented him from becoming self-employed for the time being. 
List, in turn, introduced Michael Thonet to the English architect R H. 
Desvignes, who led the reconstruction and furnishing of the Liechtenstein 
Majorate House. 12 Desvignes realized that Thonet’s privilege was well- 
suited to manufacture the desired parquet floors with their elaborate 
fretwork in the style of the Second Rococo. However, all the woodwork 
had already been promised to the manufacturer Carl Leistier. It was 
agreed that a contract between Leistier and Michael Thonet was to be 
set up, under which Thonet was to be allowed to perform all the work 
for the Palais Liechtenstein in the Leistier manufactory in return for a fixed 
payment. 13 
In addition to the “parquet production” he carried out a whole series of 
so-called “running chairs”—light chairs, which complemented the repre- 
sentative furniture as needed. 14 Desvignes had a decisive influence on 
the shape and design of this seating furniture. He designed the entire 
interior decoration and furniture executed by Leistier, but Michael Thonet 
11 Austrian patent application from 14 May 1842; Archive of the Technical University of Vienna, 
Privilege-Registry-Number 4358. 
12 On Peter Hubert Desvignes cf. Godfrey Smith, “The Desvignes Family,” in: id., The Forgotten Hamlet: 
Including the Corbett Estate, London 1997, 22. 
13 This agreement is the reason why we cannot clearly assign times to the different versions of the 
chairs that Michael Thonet made for the Palais Liechtenstein: Running chairs were supplied by both 
Leistier and Thonet, but Thonet’s name does not appear in any of the numerous documents, as all 
carpentry work was billed through Carl Leistier. Thus, in the inventory from June 1847 “12 running 
chairs made of curved wood” [Hausarchiv Liechtenstein, Wien, K. 1853] are indicated for the Great 
Yellow Room, but it is not clear what Version they are. Although we do find information on which of 
the numerous rooms the chairs were intended for or where they stood, later photographs do not help 
us, since they are running chairs that were moved from one room to another, depending on where 
they were needed. 
14 Michael Thonet had already made a “running chair” in the style of the Boppard chair before 
becoming acquainted with Desvignes. 
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