Marcel Breuer (1902 to 1981) was a Hungarian-born architect and furniture designer, born in Pécs. He studied at the Bauhaus from 1920, and when the school moved to Dessau in 1925 he became head of its furniture workshop, a post he held until 1928.
In 1925 he designed the first chair made from bent tubular steel, taking the idea from the handlebars of his bicycle. It later became known as the Wassily chair, after the painter Wassily Kandinsky, a Bauhaus colleague who admired it. The cane cantilever chair followed in 1928.
Breuer left Germany in 1935, and later settled in the United States, where he worked mainly as an architect. He died in New York in 1981. See more Bauhaus furniture.
A cantilever chair has no back legs: the frame runs down from the seat, along the floor and back up, so the seat is held from the front. Three of the chairs here work this way.
Cane, with or without arms. The Cesca B32 Side Chair and the Cesca Side 64 Chair both have a woven rattan seat in a wooden frame on polished stainless steel, with a 46 cm seat height. The Side 64 adds arms, at 68.5 cm, from GBP 211.60.
The finish changes the wait. The Cesca B32 Side Chair in ash is GBP 249.50 and shows dispatch in 48 to 72 hours. In black lacquered beech it is GBP 10.00 less, at GBP 239.50, but shows 12 to 16 weeks. A set of four is GBP 998.00 in ash or GBP 958.00 in black.
Leather instead of cane. The Mart Stam Chair has an aniline leather seat and back on a stainless steel frame, the same 46 cm seat height, and weighs 5 kg against the Cesca's 8.3 kg. It costs GBP 140.00 more than the ash Cesca B32, and shows 12 to 16 weeks. Stam built one of the first cantilevered chairs from steel tube in about 1926, and who had the idea first was disputed between him and Breuer. For other tubular steel chairs from the same years, see Mies van der Rohe.
The lounge chair. The Wassily Chair B3 is 79 cm wide, 74 cm deep and 79 cm high, with a 44 cm seat, and weighs 27 kg. The black version is upholstered in black thick PU on a polished stainless steel frame, and shows 12 to 16 weeks.
The tables. The Laccio Coffee Table is two nesting tables on a stainless steel tube frame, 134.5 cm wide, 47 cm deep and 34 cm high overall, 17 kg across two packages. Its product page describes it as a companion to the lounge chair. Tops come in black or white.
Together. The table top sits 10 cm below the lounge chair's seat. For other Bauhaus pieces, see the Wilhelm Wagenfeld table lamps, or all dining chairs.
Marcel Breuer (1902 to 1981) was a Hungarian-born architect and furniture designer. He studied at the Bauhaus from 1920 and ran its furniture workshop in Dessau from 1925 to 1928. He made the first chair from bent tubular steel in 1925, left Germany in 1935, and later worked as an architect in the United States.
The tubular steel lounge chair of 1925, later named the Wassily chair, and the cane cantilever chair of 1928 are his best-known designs. Both are in this collection, as the Wassily Chair B3 and the Cesca B32 Side Chair. The cane chair also comes with arms, as the Cesca Side 64 Chair.
They broke with traditional wooden furniture. Breuer took bent steel tube, the material of bicycle frames, and used it to make a light, open structure with a seat and back of leather, fabric or cane. His cantilever chairs go further: the tube has no back legs and gives slightly under the sitter.
It is a chair after the Dutch architect Mart Stam, a contemporary of Breuer. Its product page dates Stam's prototype to about 1926, built from steel tube. Stam's chair is one of the first cantilevered designs, and design histories note a dispute between him and Breuer over who had the idea first.
It is a reproduction of one of his chair designs. It is sold as a reproduction, and every Mobelaris product page states that the item is not manufactured by or affiliated with the original designer. This collection holds a lounge chair, two cane dining chairs and a nesting table set in his style, from GBP 211.60.
The Wassily Chair B3 is 79 cm wide, 74 cm deep and 79 cm high, with a seat height of 44 cm, and weighs 27 kg. It arrives in a package 83 cm by 80 cm by 78 cm. The black version is upholstered in black thick PU on a polished stainless steel frame, from GBP 419.50.
The arms. The Cesca B32 Side Chair has none; the Cesca Side 64 Chair has arms at 68.5 cm. Both have a woven rattan seat in a wooden frame on polished stainless steel, a 46 cm seat height, and both arrive fully assembled. The Side 64 starts from GBP 211.60 and the B32 from GBP 239.50.
On the cane chairs, the ash finish. The Cesca B32 Side Chair in ash and the Cesca Side 64 Chair in ash both show dispatch in 48 to 72 hours. The black lacquered Cesca B32 shows 12 to 16 weeks, as do the lounge chair, the Mart Stam Chair and the nesting tables. Each product page shows its own estimate.
The Laccio Coffee Table is two tables that nest together, on a stainless steel tube frame. Overall it is 134.5 cm wide, 47 cm deep and 34 cm high, and weighs 17 kg. It ships in two packages, with instructions included, and the tops come in black or white. It starts from GBP 444.50.
Every piece in this collection lists a five-year warranty in its product specification: the lounge chair, both cane dining chairs, the Mart Stam Chair and the nesting tables. They share the same term, so a mixed set is covered for the same period. Check the product page for the full terms before ordering.
