Also called the Prague Chair, this chair number 811 was designed in the 1920s by Josef Hoffmann (1870-1957). Hoffmann was an Austrian designer who founded the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903 in response to factory mass production during the Industrial Revolution. Indeed, this mass production was accompanied by miserable working conditions and products of deplorable quality. At the Vienna Ateliers, Hoffmann designed interiors and utensils that had to be not only beautiful but also functional, including the 811 chair. His designs can be found in numerous museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Hoffmann designed the Prague chair for the Thonet Brothers. This company has been around since 1853 and became known for its bentwood furniture, which it was the first company to produce on a large scale. The chair was produced in a former Thonet factory in the former Czechoslovakia, Ligna.
The chair has a beechwood frame and a hand-woven rattan seat and back. The design of the chair is timeless: the chair was very popular in the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s and has lost none of its popularity today.The black paint is somewhat chipped on the handrails.
The seat is slightly dented from sitting.
On 1 of the chairs a small piece of wicker is broken, see photo.