The Bauhaus was a German school of art, design and architecture, founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and closed in 1933. Its furniture set out to be simple and functional, with no ornament, and to suit industrial production.
Marcel Breuer trained at the Bauhaus and ran its furniture workshop from 1925. That year he designed the tubular steel chair later named after his colleague Wassily Kandinsky, reportedly inspired by the handlebars of his bicycle. He designed the cantilevered Cesca chair in 1928, after leaving the school for his own practice in Berlin.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe later became the school's third and final director. The Barcelona chair, designed with Lilly Reich for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, and the Brno chair, from his Villa Tugendhat in Brno, both date from just before that.
So "Bauhaus furniture" is really a family of pieces from the school and its circle. The Le Corbusier pieces here belong to the same period and the same tubular steel thinking, but Le Corbusier was not part of the school. For those, see the Le Corbusier collection.
The Cesca is a cantilever chair: a single loop of polished stainless steel with no back legs, holding a woven rattan seat and back in an ash or black lacquered beech frame. It weighs 8.3 kg and has a 46 cm seat. The side chair starts from GBP 249.50 and the arm chair from GBP 219.60, and both are held in UK stock.
The Brno is also a cantilever, on a stainless steel base, but fully upholstered in Italian leather over an internal wood frame and high-density foam. It is 58 cm wide and 81 cm high, from GBP 559.50, and it does not stack.
For more dining seating, see dining chairs.
The Wassily chair is a polished stainless steel frame with black PU straps for the seat, back and arms. It is 79 cm wide, 74 cm deep and 79 cm high, with a 44 cm seat, and arrives fully assembled. From GBP 419.50.
The Barcelona chair sits on a highly polished stainless steel frame, with leather cushions. It is 75 cm wide, 76 cm deep and 80 cm high, with a 44 cm seat, weighs 27 kg and arrives fully assembled. From GBP 924.50.
For other lounge seating, see modern lounge chairs.
The Laccio is two nesting tables on stainless steel tubular frames, with plywood tops in a black or white melamine veneer. The pair is 134.5 cm wide, 47 cm deep and 34 cm high, weighs 17 kg and starts from GBP 444.50.
All eight pieces, verified against their product pages. Prices are the current From price including the active sale.
Piece | From | W × D × H (cm) | Seat height | Weight | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cesca arm chair | GBP 219.60 | See product page | 46 cm | 8.3 kg | 48 to 72 hours |
Cesca side chair | GBP 249.50 | 46.5 × 51 × 82.5 | 46 cm | 8.3 kg | 48 to 72 hours |
Wassily chair | GBP 419.50 | 79 × 74 × 79 | 44 cm | 27 kg | 12 to 16 weeks |
Laccio tables | GBP 444.50 | 134.5 × 47 × 34 | n/a | 17 kg | 12 to 16 weeks |
Brno chair | GBP 559.50 | 58 × 58 × 81 | See product page | 28 kg | 12 to 16 weeks |
LC4 chaise longue | GBP 839.50 | 61 × 152 × 81 | n/a | 23 kg | 12 to 16 weeks |
LC2 Petit Confort armchair | GBP 859.50 | 76 × 70 × 70 | See product page | 24 kg | 12 to 16 weeks |
Barcelona chair | GBP 924.50 | 75 × 76 × 80 | 44 cm | 27 kg | 12 to 16 weeks |
Two cantilever dining chairs, very different to live with. The Cesca weighs 8.3 kg and the Brno 28 kg, more than three times as much. The Cesca is the one to choose for chairs that get pulled out and pushed in every day; the Brno is a heavier, fully upholstered chair that stays put.
The Cesca is the only piece you can have this week. Both Cesca chairs are held in UK stock and dispatch in 48 to 72 hours. Everything else takes 12 to 16 weeks.
The lounge chairs sit at the same height. The Wassily and the Barcelona both have a 44 cm seat and stand 79 cm and 80 cm tall, so they work together in one room. The difference is weight of look: open straps against deep cushions.
Bauhaus furniture comes from the German design school of that name, which ran from 1919 to 1933, and the architects around it. It is simple and functional, with no ornament, and makes use of industrial materials such as tubular steel. The Wassily and Cesca chairs by Marcel Breuer, and Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona and Brno chairs, are among the best-known pieces.
A Bauhaus furniture replica is a reproduction of a design from the school or its circle, such as a Breuer or Mies van der Rohe chair. It is sold as a reproduction, and every Mobelaris product page states that the item is not manufactured by or affiliated with the original designers. In this collection, prices start from GBP 219.60 for a Cesca chair.
The Wassily is Marcel Breuer's tubular steel lounge chair from 1925, later named after his Bauhaus colleague Wassily Kandinsky. The Mobelaris version is a polished stainless steel frame with black PU straps, 79 cm wide, 74 cm deep and 79 cm high, with a 44 cm seat. It arrives fully assembled and starts from GBP 419.50.
The Cesca is Marcel Breuer's cantilever dining chair of 1928: a loop of steel with no back legs, holding a woven seat and back. The Mobelaris Cesca has a polished stainless steel frame, woven rattan in an ash or black lacquered beech frame, and a 46 cm seat. It comes as a side chair or arm chair, both held in UK stock.
The Barcelona chair is Mies van der Rohe's lounge chair, designed with Lilly Reich for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona. The Mobelaris version sits on a highly polished stainless steel frame with leather cushions, and is 75 cm wide, 76 cm deep and 80 cm high, with a 44 cm seat. It weighs 27 kg and starts from GBP 924.50.
The Brno is a Mies van der Rohe cantilever chair associated with his Villa Tugendhat in Brno, built between 1928 and 1930. The Mobelaris version is upholstered in Italian leather over an internal wood frame and high-density foam, on a stainless steel base. It is 58 cm wide and 81 cm high, weighs 28 kg, does not stack, and starts from GBP 559.50.
Not strictly. Le Corbusier worked in France and was not part of the Bauhaus, though his tubular steel pieces of 1928, designed with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, belong to the same period and share its ideas. They are included here for that reason. The full range is in the Le Corbusier collection.
The Laccio is a Marcel Breuer design of two nesting tables. The Mobelaris version has stainless steel tubular frames and plywood tops in a black or white melamine veneer. The pair measures 134.5 cm wide, 47 cm deep and 34 cm high, weighs 17 kg, and starts from GBP 444.50.
In this collection, from GBP 219.60 for a Cesca arm chair and GBP 249.50 for a Cesca side chair, rising to GBP 419.50 for the Wassily, GBP 559.50 for the Brno and GBP 924.50 for the Barcelona chair. The Laccio tables start from GBP 444.50. Prices on the grid above are current and include any active sale.
Both Cesca chairs are held in UK stock and dispatch in 48 to 72 hours. Everything else in the collection takes 12 to 16 weeks. Each product page shows its own estimate under the Add to Cart button, and timings are confirmed by email once the order is placed.
