B 9, B 9d (H 60 x W 66 cm), Stained beech, Mahogany (TP 34)

The Design

During his tenure in the furniture workshop at the Bauhaus Dessau Marcel Breuer, designer of the B 9 nesting tables, was one of the first designers to experiment with the steel tubing as a material for furniture design. The result was furniture where, and following the constructivist principle, the component parts were visible and which, as the Breuer Table B 9, have a sober, industrial appearance. The simple tubular steel frame of the B 9 coffee table is complimented by a wooden, table top, available either as lacquered or stained beech and is available in four different sizes all of which work individually or can be combined in an attractive nesting set. With the designations B 9a, B 9b, B 9c and B 9d the Thonet side tables range from 45 cm to 60 cm in height. And regardless of if or how they are combined, the Bauhaus classics is an elegant yet simple solution for placing a glass, a book or simply as a sculptural feature in any room.

The meeting of two styles - Thonet bentwood furniture in a modern setting: the Stuttgart Weissenhof Estate

Designer

Born in 1902 in Austria-Hungary, the architect and designer Marcel Breuer initially attended the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts before moving on to Bauhaus Weimar. After working in Walter Gropius' architectural practice Breuer was appointed Jungmeister and head of the furniture workshop at the Bauhaus Dessau in 1925: where he quickly distinguished himself with notable furniture designs. In his Dessau period Breuer's furniture designs featured steel tubing from the nearby Junkers aircraft factory and included works such as the table B 9 or Wassily Chair, from which his Bauhaus colleague Kandinsky received, and enthusiastically used a prototype - thus the universally accepted name. As a protagonist of New Building Breuer developed interior projects such as the Dessau Masters' Houses or the Stuttgart Weissenhof Estate, however owing to his Jewish origins was forced to emigrate to the United States in the 1930s. Once in America he helped establish the Faculty of Architecture at Harvard University with Walter Gropius, with whom he also shared an office, and later realized major projects such as the UNESCO building in Paris.

Marcel Breuer is one of the main representatives of the Bauhaus school.

Manufacturer

The furniture manufacturer Thonet, based in Frankenberg, Germany, has gained a worldwide fame through both projects implemented with external designers as with internally developed objects. In addition to the many innovative and challenging designs of the Thonet design team, an especially important role is played by the company's portfolio of modern classics - like the B 9. Among the more notable external cooperation, Stefan Diez developed for Thonet the 404 and 404 F bentwood chairs, chairs which continue the tradition of the company founder Michael Thonet - a man whose bentwood classic 214 revolutionised commercial furniture production as well as setting new aesthetic standards. In collaboration with designers, engineers and craftsmen Thonet have developed as a family run business and continues to produce aesthetic and functional furniture which is as sustainable as it is aesthetic.

Thonet furniture is manufactured in Frankenberg in Hessen, Germany.

A set of Marcel Breuer's nesting tables

Production

The B 9 table is produced by the German furniture manufacturer Thonet. An elegantly curved tubular steel frame in combination with a wooden tabletop in different colours makes the Thonet table a timeless piece of furniture that easily fits into different types of interiors. As with all Thonet products the Breuer table is manufactured in accordance with the company's strict ecological and socio-economic criteria, for which the company has achieved the coveted "Green Globe" certification. The recyclable materials selected are sourced as locally as possible and processed with sustainably generated power. Thus products such as the coffee table B 9 and other Thonet products are durable companion, whose universality negates evolving furnishing trends and whose high-quality workmanship and excellent forms will withstand the tribulations of time. In addition Thonet reduces its ecological footprint by investing in recycling plants for solvents.

For over 150 years Thonet has been producing furniture classics, and have often written design history.

Historical Context

The Bauhaus and contemporary trends in new housing stood for the battle against the, then, current historicism in architecture and design. Instead of the serial copy of forms and ornaments of earlier styles Bauhaus and their contemporaries aimed at the development of a modern design that would meet the modern, industrial production methods. Arts and crafts - concept and execution - should not be considered separate, but mutually dependent. Moreover, it was associated with the use of the serial production and the development of principle of making functional and tasteful residential furnishings available to a wide audience. One consequence was the development of tubular steel furniture - a process led and defied by objects such as the Breuer B 9 nesting tables or the classic cantilever chairs by Mart Stam.