Bentwood Chairs – They May Be simple But They’re Fascinating Too

Believe it or not the bentwood chair is one of the oldest production chairs still being made today. Over the years it’s graced everywhere from the Hotel De Paris in Monte Carlo through to backstreet Parisian bistros. In fact, even today it can be seen in far flung locations from Taiwan to Timbuktu. To celebrate this classic design we thought it might be a bit of fun to give you another dose of fascinating facts about the bentwood chair that you might not know. Besides, if nothing else these facts are great ice breakers at parties!

Famous owners of the bentwood chair

There have been a number of famous (or infamous) owners of the humble bentwood chair including Albert Einstein – Was he sitting on a bentwood chair when that apple fell on his head? Pablo Picasso – Was the girl in the picture “the seated woman” actually sitting on a bentwood chair? And Joseph Stalin – Well, the less said about him, the better!

Moulin Rouge

When the short statured, French painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec crafted his famous work ‘At the Moulin Rouge’ bentwood chairs can clearly be seen jostling for position in and amongst some pretty shady characters in the picture.

To glue or not to glue

Michael Thonet the originator of the bentwood chair decided to purchase a nearby glue factory so that he had a constant supply for his furniture. When the very first Bentwood appeared in 1865 it was so well constructed that it didn’t actually contain any glue whatsoever. It left him with the problem of a glue factory that was surplus to requirements. It’s fair to say probably wasn’t his best business move.

It kick started the Ikea revolution

Well, almost! The truth is that as the bentwood chair became so popular (over 80 million have been sold to date) because it required only a handful of nuts and screws to put the six pieces together, it was so simple that many people decided to purchase the chair in pieces and put it together themselves. You could say (loosely speaking of course) that this might have been the very first fore-runner to the flat-pack furniture sold by a particularly famous Swedish home décor company.

Every bentwood chair is totally unique

Despite over 80 million being sold, no two are ever alike. That’s a fact! Try comparing two chairs together and I’ll guarantee you’ll see subtle differences in the grain of the wood. Why? Because each one is made from differing sets of timber.

If you’re looking for affordable modern versions of the bentwood chair then you’ve come to the right place. Here at Cafe Solution we have a wide variety of bentwood chairs in stock that would make a great addition to your establishment. To find out more, either check out our website at www.cafesolutions.com.au or call us on 07 3205 1616 and bag yourself a quality bargain today.