Is this anything special?  

Is there anybody out there?

I have not encountered a designer that could be attributed to this chair by Thonet. I could be wrong but I always thought this was an in house design to compete with the more expensive Eames molded plywood chairs by HM. This chair was just recently relaunched as the Legacy Collection at the NeoCon 2017. You can read more about it here;

https://www.thonet.com/blog/press-releases/legacy-collection

https://www.thonet.com/blog/press-releases/bof-legacy-collection

But if you are interested in a Thonet wood chair that has a designer name, this chair is by Bruno Weil from 1945 and comes in many variants. I hope this helps.

Certainly not an old "potato chip," but also not of the desirability and value of an Eams designed piece. Search for "Thonet DCW" and you will find numerous posts/images of this chair, marked.

There is also a DA post on this topic, from a couple years back: https://www.designaddict.com/forum/General-discussion/Help-Thonet-plywood...

Thonet was pretty good about filing patents for their products, so if you do a Google patent search, you may come across the designer. As Minimoma stated above, Bruno Weill did many of Thonet's designs in the middle of the last century. Thonet holds its own place in chair history, less for the designers it worked with, and more for the technology it pioneered.

I think it is is a really good looking chair, and would definitely pick a set up, if I came across them at the right price.

Thanks for the comments and clues, but still coming up empty. It looks like it 'could' have been a chair from Joe Atkinson and the uphosltery was removed but I haven't given up yet.

The chairs, unfortunately, won't be making the trip with us, hence the research. They are going to be listed on a site. Hit me up at gmail if you want to chat. Same username.

So I think I'm on to something here... Most of these Thonet Bentwood Chairs look the same except for this one (and the one with the rectangular cutout). It appears that this particular char was at one point upholstered either with fabric or vinyl. All of those have the same shape and curves...

That said, still doesn't give me any more info. Does this give any of you more to go on?

Examples:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/thonet-upholstered-bentwood-le-93876

https://www.etsy.com/listing/502066247/vintage-mid-century-modern-thonet...

And what a deal!:

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/dining-room-chairs/set-of-four...

They are clearly and undoubtedly, Thonet. It is also clear that Thonet had bare-ply and upholstered versions. These were likely marketed to commercial environments, as well as schools, libraries, etc. At some point they added upholstery, and a hand-hold for easier moving. Production was probably pretty high, so variance is likely over their production life-cycle.

Thonet did not have anyone of real note designing for them (even Bruno Weill is not notable in the pantheon of Mid-century designers), so other than quenching the desire to know the designer (which is statistically-speaking most likely an unknown in-house person), there is little value gained by knowing the designer. If you found a believable design credit for the upholstered version, then it is extremely likely that the same person designed upholstered and bare-ply versions.

There are numerous, recent sales, on the internet for valuation purposes (I would apply the 60% max of 1st Dibbs price rule, if you want to try to use that). Otherwise there are a bunch of Etsy, Ebay, and other sales that are easily found.

So what is your goal here? I am not sure what you are looking for?

He's looking to sell them and hoping someone here on DA reacts something like:

ZOMFG! JOE ATKINSON NO WAY! I CANT BELIEVE THIS DERIVATIVE CHAIR WAS ACTUALLY DESIGNED BY THE MCM GOD JOE ATKINSON!!!

HOLY SHIT I'll TAKE THE LOT!

or something really close, possibly involving Mark's pants

Never eat anything described as tasting like chicken.

Especially at Mark's house.

This is also super similar to the "Thompson Dining Chair" by Gus* Modern.

https://www.allmodern.com/Gus%2A-Modern-Thompson-Dining-Chair-GUS1227.html ( I posted this site only for the picture, and do not support it on any level, in fact I would never support buying anything new, from places like this)

At the end of the day, these are all just imitations of the Eams DCW, and exist as more affordable versions of this design aesthetic.

Thanks but no thanks, I'm not trying to sell them on DA. I know the rules. Stay in your lane, LampGuy.

Zephyr - My goal is to get a little more info on what they are. I bought them two years ago and could never figure out what they were outside of the obvious (Thonet, Bentwood, etc.). I knew they looked a little different and wanted to use this infinite resource to see if someone could ...

I remember reading somewhere that some people thought these chairs pre-dated the DCW but most places I've seen these listed as 1950s...

I am moving overseas and shedding my collection so I'm doing some final research so I can describe things most accurately. I don't believe that's against the rules.

Best,

Duke

Understood.

Well, I think their likeness to the DCW will improve their saleability, beyond what they reasonably should be worth.

I also don't think there is really anything more to know about them. If you are really unsatisfied with that, I would try contacting Thonet, as I think they are still around...

Good luck on your search and your move!

Thanks, Zephyr. You all were my last hope;)

Maybe I'll give them a ring if I have the time tomorrow. Thanks for your help, as always.

We almost made it through the thread without any snark or nastiness...

On Bruno Weil, just want to add (not to argue), it is true that he is not a household name & not associated much with mid 20th century modern design, his work was from the earlier 20th century modernist period. Bruno Weil besides being an architect was also the design director for the French division of Thonet (Thonet Freres) from the late 1920s to the mid 1930s & designed for Thonet France using his initials BW (BeWe to others) & worked along side other progressive architects of the time, like Mies van der Rohe, Andre Lurcat, Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeannetet & Charlotter Perriand.

He later moved to the USA after WWII and designed the bentwood 'wildwood' chair for the American Thonet.

His casegoods/cabinets for the French Thonet are hard to come by & I could only wish to be able to afford them if it even shows up in the USA.

Thanks for setting me straight minimoma. I agree with you. My ignorance of early 20th century designers is apparent, and I certainly did not mean to discount the pioneers of the modern movement.