Decorating
Collectors' Alert! Marcel Breuer's Cesca Chair
Get to know Marcel Breuer's Cesca chair, which is described as one of the 10 most important chairs of the 20th century
The Cesca chair, designed in 1928, is nearly 90 years old. But you certainly wouldn’t know by looking at it. Like much of the modernist design that hailed from the 1920s, its aesthetic is universal and timeless.
Marcel Breuer designed the Cesca chair by merging traditional craftsmanship with industrial methods and materials. As such, it is characterised by its tubular steel structure, beech frame with hand-woven cane inserts, and cantilevered form. Cara McCarty, associate curator, department of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has even described the chair as “among the 10 most important chairs of the 20th century”. Take a seat and get acquainted with this classic design.
Marcel Breuer designed the Cesca chair by merging traditional craftsmanship with industrial methods and materials. As such, it is characterised by its tubular steel structure, beech frame with hand-woven cane inserts, and cantilevered form. Cara McCarty, associate curator, department of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has even described the chair as “among the 10 most important chairs of the 20th century”. Take a seat and get acquainted with this classic design.
Breuer rode an Adler bicycle to and from the Bauhaus and, inspired by the flexibility and strength of its handlebars, he experimented with tubular steel. He was greatly influenced by the constructivist theories of the De Stijl movement designers who reduced their works to the essentials of form.
Breuer combined these theories of abstraction with the material and construction principles of the bicycle handlebars to create a series of lightweight metal furnishings, including what would become known as the Cesca chair.
Breuer combined these theories of abstraction with the material and construction principles of the bicycle handlebars to create a series of lightweight metal furnishings, including what would become known as the Cesca chair.
The Chair
Breuer wanted to celebrate the tubular steel in the design of the Cesca and created a continuous line that supported a cantilever seat. The cantilever was one the most important developments in 20th-century furniture, although the Cesca chair was not the first to feature it.
My Houzz: Tim Ross’s Mid-Century Masterpiece
Breuer wanted to celebrate the tubular steel in the design of the Cesca and created a continuous line that supported a cantilever seat. The cantilever was one the most important developments in 20th-century furniture, although the Cesca chair was not the first to feature it.
My Houzz: Tim Ross’s Mid-Century Masterpiece
Gerhard Stuttgen, a locksmith and teacher at the Cologne Art School, is thought to have first designed a chair that did not use legs for its back support. Made from Mannesman tube, Stuttgen exhibited the chair at a student-faculty show in 1924 and, because his intentions were more technical than architectural, its significance was not recognised at the time.
Consequently, Mart Stam of the Bauhaus is credited with developing the first cantilever chair made from tubular steel. In 1926 he created a chair composed of gas pipe arranged in a continuous line. Aware of Stam’s chair, both Breuer and Mies van der Rohe created cantilevered variations of their own, and almost identical on the part of Breuer.
Consequently, Mart Stam of the Bauhaus is credited with developing the first cantilever chair made from tubular steel. In 1926 he created a chair composed of gas pipe arranged in a continuous line. Aware of Stam’s chair, both Breuer and Mies van der Rohe created cantilevered variations of their own, and almost identical on the part of Breuer.
Breuer’s chair was originally known as the B32 and manufactured by Michael Thonet until World War II. In the 1950s Italian furniture manufacturer Dino Gavina started producing the chair with Breuer’s permission, changing the chair’s name to that of Breuer’s daughter Francesca, or Cesca.
In 1968, Knoll Associates, now the Knoll Group, bought the Gavina factory. Breuer never patented his design, but signed a contract with the Knoll Group, which continues to produce the chair. With Gavina and Knoll, Breuer made subtle design changes to the chair over the years.
In 1968, Knoll Associates, now the Knoll Group, bought the Gavina factory. Breuer never patented his design, but signed a contract with the Knoll Group, which continues to produce the chair. With Gavina and Knoll, Breuer made subtle design changes to the chair over the years.
The early years of the Bauhaus had an emphasis on craft, while the later years on industry and production. The Cesca chair blends both as Breuer merged traditional craftsmanship with industrial methods and materials.
The Cesca chair has a natural or ebonised beech frame with woven cane seat and back inserts, and a chromed tubular steel structure.
It is offered in arm and armless versions and with hand-woven cane inserts or a fully upholstered seat and back. The genuine chairs are stamped with Breuer’s signature.
Browse more mid-century-style homes
It is offered in arm and armless versions and with hand-woven cane inserts or a fully upholstered seat and back. The genuine chairs are stamped with Breuer’s signature.
Browse more mid-century-style homes
The Trend
The Cesca is a supportive and comfortable chair and the cantilever gives the visual trick of the seat and back almost floating in air.
As modernist architects experimented with steel and cantilevered structures, industrial designers embraced the material and concept too. New technology to bend steel made the cantilever possible. As Christopher Wilk, curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London says: “There had never been a chair like it. It was structurally daring and embodied many key aspirations of modernist design that were equally applicable to architecture and furniture. It was made of an industrial material symbolic of the machine age and was visually transparent because materials were reduced to a minimum, giving it an abstract quality”.
The Cesca is a supportive and comfortable chair and the cantilever gives the visual trick of the seat and back almost floating in air.
As modernist architects experimented with steel and cantilevered structures, industrial designers embraced the material and concept too. New technology to bend steel made the cantilever possible. As Christopher Wilk, curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London says: “There had never been a chair like it. It was structurally daring and embodied many key aspirations of modernist design that were equally applicable to architecture and furniture. It was made of an industrial material symbolic of the machine age and was visually transparent because materials were reduced to a minimum, giving it an abstract quality”.
How to Use It
As a dining chair
The dining room is an obvious choice for the Cesca chair as it comes with and without arms. The mix of steel, cane and beech means that it is easily at home in a variety of styles.
Here it is in a modern room where the ebonised frame is in harmony with the black frames and images of the artwork on the walls.
As a dining chair
The dining room is an obvious choice for the Cesca chair as it comes with and without arms. The mix of steel, cane and beech means that it is easily at home in a variety of styles.
Here it is in a modern room where the ebonised frame is in harmony with the black frames and images of the artwork on the walls.
In this more traditional home, it’s matched with a timber and metal table, adding weight and solidity to the room’s scheme.
And in this eclectic dining room, the cane and steel contribute to the textured palette of the room.
These Cesca chairs have an ebonised beech frame and armrests, with dark woven cane. They sit opposite a banquette and anchor the otherwise light and bright room.
The mix of materials also means the chair can be mixed and matched with other dining chairs that pick up on the cane, beech or metal. In this Toronto home, they’re matched with a pair of bentwood and cane chairs, possibly the Thonet 811 attributed to Josef Hoffmann.
As an office chair
With its supportive give, the Cesca also serves well as an office chair. AP Design House used the chair in this elegant Mosman home, matching it with an antique writing desk and a cantilevered side table.
12 Timeless Signature Pieces of the 20th Century
With its supportive give, the Cesca also serves well as an office chair. AP Design House used the chair in this elegant Mosman home, matching it with an antique writing desk and a cantilevered side table.
12 Timeless Signature Pieces of the 20th Century
Where to Buy
Secondhand or vintage
For a secondhand Cesca chair, contact a vintage furniture importer or store. They may have one in stock or can source one for you. They should only be sourcing the genuine Cesca produced by Knoll (or even Gavina or Thonet, if you’re lucky) and the price you pay will reflect this. If the existing cane needs replacing, you can have it re-caned.
Keep an eye on auction houses, auction websites and secondhand furniture sellers: just be sure you are buying a genuine Cesca chair and not a replica.
Secondhand or vintage
For a secondhand Cesca chair, contact a vintage furniture importer or store. They may have one in stock or can source one for you. They should only be sourcing the genuine Cesca produced by Knoll (or even Gavina or Thonet, if you’re lucky) and the price you pay will reflect this. If the existing cane needs replacing, you can have it re-caned.
Keep an eye on auction houses, auction websites and secondhand furniture sellers: just be sure you are buying a genuine Cesca chair and not a replica.
New versions
Knoll manufactures the genuine Cesca, and you can purchase a brand-spanking new (and genuine) Cesca chair from Knoll or a Knoll reseller.
Reproductions are produced around the world by other manufacturers that market the product under different names or identify them as being a ‘replica’. You can purchase a replica or knock-off from furniture sellers in Australia. Replicas are not made to the same design specifications as the original, and quality, construction, proportions, and materials – among other elements – will differ.
A note on replicas
A loophole in Australia’s Intellectual Property laws means that it is the only western country in which classic chairs (and other furniture and objects) can be legally manufactured without licence. These will be labelled ‘replica’ and cost less than the genuine article. Replicas enable a greater number of people to access the aesthetics of good design, however, copying designers’ and manufacturers’ work diminishes the capabilities and innovation of the design community as a whole.
Knoll manufactures the genuine Cesca, and you can purchase a brand-spanking new (and genuine) Cesca chair from Knoll or a Knoll reseller.
Reproductions are produced around the world by other manufacturers that market the product under different names or identify them as being a ‘replica’. You can purchase a replica or knock-off from furniture sellers in Australia. Replicas are not made to the same design specifications as the original, and quality, construction, proportions, and materials – among other elements – will differ.
A note on replicas
A loophole in Australia’s Intellectual Property laws means that it is the only western country in which classic chairs (and other furniture and objects) can be legally manufactured without licence. These will be labelled ‘replica’ and cost less than the genuine article. Replicas enable a greater number of people to access the aesthetics of good design, however, copying designers’ and manufacturers’ work diminishes the capabilities and innovation of the design community as a whole.
Tell us
Is the Cesca chair on your wish list, or perhaps you’re lucky enough to own one already? Tell us in the Comments below. And if you enjoyed this story, don’t forget to like it, bookmark it or share it.
More
Read more stories on decorating styles
Is the Cesca chair on your wish list, or perhaps you’re lucky enough to own one already? Tell us in the Comments below. And if you enjoyed this story, don’t forget to like it, bookmark it or share it.
More
Read more stories on decorating styles
Hungarian-born architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer is considered one of the great talents of modernism. He graduated from the Bauhaus carpentry workshop in 1924 and, after a brief stay in Paris, returned to the Bauhaus as master of the carpentry workshop until 1928.