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Thonet

S 43 Classics in Colour

by Mart Stam — 589,00 €
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S 43 Classics in Colour

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589,00 € *
Limited stock - only 1 x in stock, delivery time 1 working day (country of delivery Germany)
3 % advance payment discount*: 571,33 € (Save 17,67 €)

One of the first cantilever chairs in furniture history, the S43 by Mart Stam has received under the "Classics in Colour" label new hues. Thonet has been producing the classic cantilever since the 1920s; and today reflects contemporary furnishing styles, and thus the chair's continuing relevance, by presenting the S 43 with a new collection of steel tube colours. iInspired by the colours of Bauhaus and for all Johannes Itten's colour wheel, the S 43 effortlessly, and attractively, connects past and present.

Details

Product type Cantilever chair
Dimensions

(1) Height: 82 cm
(2) Width: 44 cm
(3) Depth: 52 cm
(4) Seat height: 46 cm
Weight 6,2 kg
Colours Seat and backrest

Frame

Accessories Suitable Seat Pad for S 43 Classics in Colour by Parkhaus Berlin
Material Seat and backrest: beech or oak, plywood
Frame: Tubular steel, powder-coated
Glides: plastic, transparent
Function & properties Loadable up to 110 kg
Non stackable
Delivery includes Incl. glides with felt, transparent
Care For cleaning the wood and metal surfaces a soft, damp cloth and a mild, neutral detergent is recommended

Please click on picture for detailed information (ca. 0,7 MB).


Certificates DIN EN 16139 level I (furniture for non-residential use)
Sustainability Thonet has declared sustainability to be a corporate principle. The manufacturer continuously optimizes all processes from production/technology, materials management and recyclability to transport routes and constantly pays attention to resource-saving energy and material consumption. Last but not least, social and ethical principles are among the top priorities. Thonet has been awarded the "Green Globe Certificate" for its measures of sustainable and environmentally friendly management - further information can be found here.
Warranty 24 months
Product family Thonet Cantilever Chairs
Datasheet Please click on picture for detailed information (ca. 2,4 MB).

Popular versions

S 43 Classics in Colour, White, Lacquered beech, Pure white (RAL 9010)

FAQ

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Should the answers to your questions not be found here, our service team can be contacted Mon-Fri, 9 am - 5 pm via +49 341 2222 88 22.

Is it possible to retrofit felt glides to an S 43 Classics in Colour?

A Thonet cantilever chair is specially produced to allow a retrofitting with plastic glides (transparent or black) with or without felt insert using the pre-punched drill holes, add an additional 11 mm to the overall height and cost 29,- EUR per set / chair.On older cantilever models produced before 2010, the Thonet frames were pre-punched as standard and the glides are installed as follows: With a 4.2 mm drill (available at any hardware store or as the special-hardened Thonet drill bits for Euro) bore holes in the marked locations. The felt pads can then be attached using the supplied self-tapping screws.

Can replacement S 43 Classics in Colour seats or backrests be ordered?

S 43 spares cannot be supplied simply because the seat and backrest are not screwed onto the frame but riveted. In addition, over the years the contours and radius of the frames have changed ever so slightly. therefore depending on how old your chairs are, modern seats and backrest may not fit. Thonet however offer a repair service in which chairs are repaired at their factory.

What is the difference between the lacquered and stained wood finishes of a S 43 Classics in Colour?

The lacquered variant is bright and glossy (jet black RAL 9005, white RAL 9010, RAL 3013 tomato red, anthracite gray RAL 7016). The stained version is more matt and the wood grain is visible.

Design Story

The Design

The cantilever chair S 43 by Mart Stam was one of the first chairs designed without back legs and is in many ways now considered the archetypal Bauhaus classic. Inspired by car, plane and train seats, for which partly cantilevered tubular steel frames were already being used, Mart Stam's 1925 creation further developed and evolved the principle of the Thonet cantilever chair. Produced since its creation by the manufacturer Thonet Mart Stam's S 43 without arms was after the Thonet S 33 one of the precursors of the cantilever chair, the rigid nature of its construction meaning a resilient, giving, seat was missing. The S 43, was used in the 1927 in the exhibition "Die Wohnung" in the Weissenhofsiedlung Stuttgart, where Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was also represented with a cantilever model. In the following years Stams model was further developed by different designers and as a concept quickly gained in popularity. Consequently from the very early days there was confusion about the authorship of the Bauhaus chair, and although in 1932 the Supreme Court awarded Mart Stam artistic authorship of the cantilever chair today the debate still rages as to whether Mart Stam or Marcel Breuer is the real spiritual father of the cantilever chair.
Mart Stam gave his design a cubist inspired form. The strict concentration of the S 43 Thonet chair design on a simple geometric construction is characteristic of a work developed by minimalist reduction. The elasticity of the steel tube allows the frame of the Thonet S 43 to remain flexible and resilient and thus respond to the movements of the user. Upholstery is unnecessary due to this elasticity, and so the seat and backrest could be made from simple moulded plywood. In addition to the S 43 Classic Stam also developed the S 43F, a version with armrests. With its economical aesthetic the S 43 is today considered as an outstanding example of a furniture design in the spirit of modernism that combines comfort and a minimalist design language.

S 43 designer Mart Stam

Manufacturer

Originally founded in 1819 by Michael Thonet in Boppard am Rhine, Germany as a joinery firm, the company quickly developed into a world renowned furniture manufacturer and for all one which made a name for itself through the use of new technologies and outstanding designs. Beginning with the bentwood chairs of the 19th century and continuing over to models such as the S 43 Thonet chairs are characterised by a special combination of technical innovation and novel design. For their famous bentwood chairs Thonet developed a novel layer-glued wood construction that was very durable and much easier to mould than what had previously been attempted. As a result Thonethas always tended to exist in its own technical and aesthetic universe. The copyrights of Mart Stam's S 43 are now with the company Thonet, who began production of the cantilever beganshortly after the Weissenhofsiedlung exhibition in Stuttgart. In 1989 Thonet opened a company museum at their base in Frankenberg / Eder where visitors can follow the development of both the S 43 and the company's two hundred years of furniture design history.

Production of Thonet steel cantilever chair in Frankenberg, Hessen

Production

Mart Stam's S 43 without arms and his S 43F with armrests are produced by traditional manufacturing processes at the Thonet factory in Frankenberg, Germany. The frame of Thonet S 43 consists of a single metal tube, which is available in polished or polished stainless steel. The wood components are sourced exclusively from selected, bright and non-steamed wood from European countries and are further processed by Thonet. The seat and backrest of the Thonet S 43 are made of veneered plywood and are available in various designs. With its moulded beech plywood shell the "raw" S 43 has a warm, slightly reddish-yellow tone. In addition, the Thonet chair is available in different stains and lacquers. Thonet use an environmentally responsible hydro lacquer that contains only 2% solvent..

Readying room of the Deutschen Nationalbibliothek in Leipzig with S 43 Thonet chairs

Historical Context

Mart Stam, who himself taught at Bauhaus, designed the S 43 in the sense of the Bauhaus spirit: a new, experimental design language which was considerate of the new industrial and manufacturing processes being developed. At Bauhaus next to the functionality of furniture design, the ability to produce the works serially and at an affordable price was of central importance. Since 1921, thanks to new manufacturing methods, it had possible to produce flexible tubes with thin walls; thus the Bauhaus chair S 43 was ideal for serial production. Works such as the S 43 and other examples of bent steel furniture were to become the symbol of a new era. In contrast to the mysticism and warmth of wood, metal furniture stood with its coolness for the reform possibilities of modernity. Characteristic of the once revolutionary furniture design is timeless aesthetics. Even today, Bauhaus furniture is regarded as modern and contemporary. Nearly 80 years after the 1933 furnishing of the National Library in Leipzig with the S 43 the new University Library in Leipzig was in 2008 furnished with S 43 chairs.

Michael Thonet, founder of the furniture manufacturer that bears his name. In this photo surrounded by his sons

Accessories

Seat Pad for S 43 / S 43 F

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