Set of 2 CM190 low chairs by Pierre Paulin for Thonet, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Thonet (Manufacturer),Pierre Paulin (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 27.17 in (69 cm)Width: 22.84 in (58 cm)Depth: 25.2 in (64 cm)Seat Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Circa 1950
- Condition:Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use. some lack of lacquer on the structure (see pictures).
- Seller Location:JASSANS-RIOTTIER, FR
- Reference Number:
Pierre Paulin
Pierre Paulin introduced a fresh breeze into French furniture design in the 1960s and ’70s, fostering a sleek new Space-Age aesthetic. Along with Olivier Mourgue, Paulin developed chairs, sofas, dining tables and other furnishings with flowing lines and almost surreal naturalistic forms. And his work became such a byword for chic, forward-looking design and emerging technologies that two French presidents commissioned him to create environments in the Élysée Palace in Paris.
Paulin was born in Paris to a family of artists and designers. He initially sought to become a ceramist and sculptor and was studying in the town of Vallauris near the Côte d'Azur — a center for pottery making, where Pablo Picasso spent his postwar summers crafting ceramics — but broke his hand in a fight. He enrolled at the École Camondo, the Paris interior design school. There, Paulin was strongly influenced by the work of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Arne Jacobsen, as was reflected in his early creations for the manufacturer Thonet-France.
It was at the Dutch firm Artifort, which he joined in 1958, where Paulin blossomed. In a few years, he produced several of his signature designs based on abstract organic shapes. These include the Butterfly chair (1963), which features a tubular steel frame and slung leather, and a group of striking seating pieces made with steel frames covered in polyurethane foam and tight jersey fabric: the Mushroom (1960), Ribbon (1966) and Tongue (1967) chairs. The revered designer not only introduced new construction techniques to Artifort furniture but contributed fresh materials, Pop art colors and dazzling shapes to the mid-century modern era as a whole.
In 1971, the Mobilier National — a department of France’s Ministry of Culture in charge of furnishing top-tier government offices and embassies — commissioned Paulin to redesign President Georges Pompidou’s private apartment in the Élysée Palace. In three years, Paulin transformed the staid rooms into futuristic environments with curved, fabric-clad walls and furnishings such as bookcases made from an arrangement of smoked-glass U shapes, flower-like pedestal chairs and pumpkin-esque loungers.
Ten years later, the Mobilier National called on Paulin again, this time to furnish the private office of President François Mitterand. Paulin responded with an angular, postmodern take on neoclassical furniture, pieces that looked surprisingly at home in the paneled, Savonnerie-carpeted Louis XVI rooms. As those two Élysée Palace projects show, Paulin furniture works well both in a total decor or when used as a counterpoint to traditional pieces. His creations have a unique personality: bright and playful yet sophisticated and suave.
Find vintage Pierre Paulin lounge chairs, armchairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Thonet
For more than 180 years, Thonet — or Gebrüder Thonet — has produced elegant and durable tables and cabinets as well as chairs, stools and other seating that wholly blur the lines between art and design. Widely known as a trailblazer in the use of bentwood in furniture, the European manufacturer has reimagined the places in which we gather.
Noted for his skill in parquetry, German-Austrian company founder Michael Thonet received an invitation from Austrian Chancellor Prince Metternich to contribute Neo-Rococo interiors to the Liechtenstein City Palace in Vienna. The Boppard-born Thonet had honed his carpentry skills in his father’s workshop, where he carried out experiments with plywood and modified the Biedermeier chairs that populated the studio.
Thonet’s work for the chancellor raised his profile, and the cabinetmaker gained international recognition, including at London’s Great Exhibition of 1851, which featured works created by members of the Arts and Crafts movement as well as industrial products of the day. Thonet showed a range of furniture at the fair and won the bronze medal for his bentwood chairs. He incorporated his family’s company, the Thonet Brothers, with his sons in 1853.
Bentwood furniture dates as far back as the Middle Ages, but it is the 19th-century cabinetmaker Thonet who is most often associated with this now-classic technique. Thonet in 1856 patented a method for bending solid wood through the use of steam, and from there, the bentwood look skyrocketed to furniture fame. The works of renowned mid-century modern designers such as Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, and Charles and Ray Eames that put this technological advancement to use would not be as extensive or celebrated were it not for the efforts of the pioneering Thonet.
Considered the world’s oldest mass-produced chair, Michael Thonet’s ubiquitous Chair No. 14 demonstrated that his patented bentwood technology made it possible to efficiently produce furniture on an industrial scale. Now known as the 214, it won the German Sustainability Award Design for 2021, a recognition of the company’s commitment to environmentally responsible production.
Often called the Coffee House chair — the company’s first substantial order was for a Viennese coffeehouse — the No. 14 remains an icon. Thonet originally designed the chair in 1859, and it is considered the starting point for modern furniture.
The bentwood process opened doors — there were investments in machinery and new industrial processes, and the business began mass-producing furniture. By the end of the 1850s, there were additional Thonet workshops in Eastern Europe and hundreds of employees. Michael Thonet’s reputation attracted the attention of notable architects including Otto Wagner, Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
The No. 14 was followed by the No. 18, or the Bistro chair, in 1867, and the 209, or the Architect’s chair, of which Le Corbusier was a fan. (The influential Swiss-French architect and designer used Thonet furniture in his Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau at the 1925 International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.)
Thonet’s chair designs also appeared in artwork by Toulouse-Lautrec, John Sloan and Henri Matisse in his Interior with a Violin Case. The noteworthy Thonet rocking chair remains a marvel of construction — in the middle of the 19th century, Michael produced a series of rockers in which the different curved parts were integrated into fluid, sinuous wholes. Thanks to Thonet, the humble rocker acquired something unexpected: style. It was captured in the paintings of Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and James Tissot.
Thonet is currently split into global divisions. Thonet Industries U.S.A. was acquired in 1987 by Shelby Williams and joined the CF Group in 1999, while the Thonet brand in Germany is owned by Thonet GmbH.
Find a collection of antique Thonet furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: JASSANS-RIOTTIER, France
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Set of 2 Asmara low chairs by Bernard Govin for Ligne Roset 1973By Bernard Govin, Ligne RosetLocated in JASSANS-RIOTTIER, FRSet of 2 low chairs model Asmara by Bernard Govin for Ligne Roset in 1973 All in foam, covered by a grey fabricCategory
Mid-20th Century French Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Foam
- Set of 2 Low chairs by Andre Sornay, 1960By Andre SornayLocated in JASSANS-RIOTTIER, FRSet of 2 low chairs designed by French cabinetmaker: Andre Sornay during the 60s in France Structure with four feet in mahogany completed with white laminate panels (back)- connected...Category
Mid-20th Century French Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Foam, Mahogany
- Set of 2 model 790 low chairs by Joseph Andre Motte for Steiner 1960By Steiner, Joseph-André MotteLocated in JASSANS-RIOTTIER, FRSet of 2 low chairs from Joseph Andre Motte for Steiner Model 790 Structure in ash, cushions in foam covered by a beige terry fabric (new) Nice patina of time A small difference in w...Category
Mid-20th Century French Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Foam, Ash
- Set of 2 Maurice Pre Chairs, 1950By Maurice PréLocated in JASSANS-RIOTTIER, FRSet of 2 armchairs/chairs by Maurice Pre in the fifties. Structure with armrests in beech, seat and back in black linen Minimalist design.Category
Mid-20th Century French Chairs
MaterialsLinen, Beech
- Set of 2 armchairs in bamboo and linen, 1950sLocated in JASSANS-RIOTTIER, FRSet of 2 armchairs from the fifties in France Structure in bamboo - cushions covered with a beige blackout linen To note: some lack on the structure foam and fabric are newCategory
Mid-20th Century French Armchairs
MaterialsLinen, Bamboo
- Set of 4 Quinta chairs by Mario Botta for Alias 1985By Alias, Mario BottaLocated in JASSANS-RIOTTIER, FRSet of 4 chairs designed by Mario Botta for Alias (stamp on the back of each chairs) Model Quinta Structure in black tubular metal Seat and back in perforated metal Famous modelCategory
Late 20th Century French Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Cm190 Slipper Chairs by Pierre Paulin for Thonet, France, 1950sBy Pierre PaulinLocated in Paris, FRPair of CM190 Slipper Chairs by Pierre Paulin for Thonet, France, 1950sCategory
Vintage 1950s French Slipper Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Original CM197 Armchair by Pierre Paulin for Thonet FranceBy Thonet, Pierre PaulinLocated in Los Angeles, CAOriginal CM197 armchair by Pierre Paulin. Designed for Thonet, France in 1958. Green vinyl upholstery in excellent original condition. Can be reupholstered easi...Category
Vintage 1950s French Modern Armchairs
- Original CM197 Armchair by Pierre Paulin for Thonet, FranceBy Pierre Paulin, ThonetLocated in Los Angeles, CAOriginal CM197 armchair by Pierre Paulin. Designed for Thonet, France in 1958. Green vinyl upholstery in excellent original condition. Can be reupholstered easi...Category
Vintage 1950s French Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- Original CM197 Armchair by Pierre Paulin for Thonet FranceBy Thonet, Pierre PaulinLocated in Los Angeles, CAOriginal CM197 armchair by Pierre Paulin. Designed for Thonet, France in 1958. Green vinyl upholstery in excellent original condition. Can be reupholstered easi...Category
Vintage 1950s French Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Pierre Paulin CM 194 Armchairs for Thonet, France, circa 1958By Pierre Paulin, ThonetLocated in Miami, FLDistinctive pair of mid 20th century design armchairs, model CM 194. This pair of chairs are early works designed by the visionary designer Pierre Paulin for Th...Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- CM194 Low Chairs – high back – by Pierre Paulin for Thonet around 1959sBy Pierre Paulin, ThonetLocated in Sammu-shi, ChibaA pair of armchairs with a distinctive mid-20th century design, model CM 194. This pair of chairs is an early piece designed by visionary designer Pierre Paulin for the French Thonet...Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsSteel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
At Château La Coste, Pierre Paulin’s Visionary Home Concept Finally Comes to Life
Now synonymous with 1960s and ’70s French chic, the designer conceived his modular modernist furnishings to change the way we decorate.
Exploring Our Current Obsession with Sixties Style
A new exhibition in Philadelphia stars a complex decade that continues to inspire.