2.18.2010

Thonet Porn and the Chair That Grew

I'm on a bit of a Thonet kick right now. I don't have any of it, not that it's so terribly precious. Though once, years ago, I was interning for an interior designer who selected a pair of very, very fine early Thonet backless-benches for the foot of a bed. Guest bedroom, mind you -- as I recall, they were 9K apiece.

No matter. Pretty pictures:



Ordering slip, please?



This looks like one of the Eames for Herman Miller promo shoots:



And this table looks positively evil, like it's going to grab your leg, or prance around the room, bucking whatever you put on it onto the floor:



I understand the desire for a sinuous line. And I respect the mechanical innovation and production techniques that Thonet ushered in, but in some ways I wish they'd considered going the way of John Krubsack (discovered here):



He grew his chair entire, and after 11 years of careful pruning and manipulation, he harvested a group of saplings modeled into a chair, with joints "cemented by nature." How charming and ludicrous would this be on the scale of mass production? If the Japanese can have watermelons grown into cubes, I want to know why we can't have trees shaped into chairs. Or tables, or beds. Thonet, I think you are the clear choice for this innovation.

There are people working in this medium today, albeit on a small scale:



What I find interesting about this is that it's clear this chair is never meant to be harvested -- I like to imagine it in a few hundred years, fat and even weirder than it is now.

6 comments:

Mlle Paradis said...

What a mind can conceive, crazy bearded men can achieve. I actually have two that look like that first picture. Like all great things they've spent much of their lives in someone else's attic.

DM said...

i'll take two of the benches that look like the cheshire cats smile. for my imaginary guest house.

Rambling Tart said...

How utterly fantastic! I love it! :-) Can you imagine how delightful it would be as a child to discover such a thing in the woods or an orchard? Splendid!

kiki said...

very very cool images. Love thonet too. my score was one i purchased for $10!! at a flea market!!

Liane said...

my lord. fascinating living tree. and requiring patience way beyond me.
i found your blog via the remodelista link and love your posts/various interests and inspirations. and also your blog links. so enjoying it! thanks. -liane

Anonymous said...

I love how you say the table looks positively evil. I love that description.

-Zane of ontario honey

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