ST 14 prototype

The poetic form of Hans Luckhardt's ST 14 transcends the cantilever principle set forth a few years earlier by Breuer, Mies and Stam. Rigid geometries are replaced with fluid streamlining supporting a seemingly weightless seat. The design was initially developed for production by Desta in 1931. Desta was sold by Anton Lorenz to Thonet who took on the design in 1932. Thonet never actually produced the chair, however, and only a small stock of the design received from Desta was ever sold by Thonet. This example does retain a early metal plaque by Thonet with a bent wood chair, used by Thonet until 1935 when it was changed to the tube steel logo. The struts differ from the production model from Desta, as Thonet attempted to redesign the structure to give it a cleaner line and to make the design more feasable for mass production. This example is a working prototype of the chair.
Chromed steel, plywood
21"w x 22"d x 34.5"h

Literature:
100 Masterpieces from the Vitra Design Museum, Von Vegesack, pg. 108-109
Deutsche Stahlrohr Mobel, Von Vegesak, cover and pg. 47, 49
Bent Wood and Metal Furniture 1850-1946, Ostergard, pg. 294, fig. 85
This chair has been authenticated by the Bauhaus Archiv in Berlin and Thonet Germany.