A place where wood has been bent for 165 years
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Published
26 Jan, 2026 -
Text by
Adam Štěch -
365 words
2 minutes
For 165 years, bentwood furniture has been made in Bystřice pod Hostýnem in the same place, using the same technology, with a continuity that has no parallel in European furniture making.
Here, bending wood has never been a decoration or a nostalgic gesture. From the very beginning, it was a technology – a search for lightness, strength, efficiency, and long service life. It was precisely this approach that enabled the creation of iconic chairs that became part of everyday life, often so natural that we hardly notice their origin.
This document returns to the foundations: to the place where bentwood furniture has been created since 1861, to the people who pass on their knowledge from generation to generation, and to the decisions that give this technology meaning even today.
1. The birth of a legend
(1819–1841):
In the 19th century, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the division of labor, the ways in which products were made changed fundamentally – including furniture, which, thanks to ingenious technological innovations, began to be mass-produced. From 1861, this was also the case in the small Moravian town of Bystřice pod Hostýnem.
The most significant of Thonet’s early bentwood products became the so-called
Boppard chair. Its concept dates back to around 1836 and is based on bending
laminated veneer. However, Thonet was by no means the first. Bent veneer had
already been used in furniture by pioneers such as Jean-Joseph Chapuis and
Samuel Gragg three decades earlier. Thonet, however, significantly refined the
laminated wood technique.
The book ±160 years
The Czech/English book ±160 years describes, across 259 pages, the historical and social events that shaped the development of bentwood furniture from Bystřice pod Hostýnem. This richly illustrated publication was written by Czech art curator Adam Štěch and published with the support of Ton.
Book author
Adam Štěch
