SAPFM Museum Furniture Collection

Dining Chair

Theophil Hansen

Dining Chair, Theophil Hansen, c. 1870, Walnut and beech with modern velvet upholstery
Maker
Theophil Hansen
Date
c. 1870
Medium
Walnut and beech with modern velvet upholstery
Dimensions
89.6 × 44.5 × 62.3 cm (35 1/4 × 17 1/2 × 24 1/2 in.)
Form
Chair
Origin
Austria
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession
2015.455
Credit line
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Buchbinder Fund
While architect and interior designer Theophil Hansen incorporated classical elements into his furniture designs, he also embraced contemporary advances in manufacturing, including the use of steam to bend solid and laminated wood, as seen in the curved forms of this chair's back. Laminated bentwood furniture is most closely associated with the Viennese firm Gebrüder Thonet, the first manufacturers to produce bentwood on an industrial scale.
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