Marcel Breuer’s Cesca chair – a brief history

We’ve had a lot of inquiries about these chairs lately. Every time I hear question whether they are original or not, so I decided to dispel all the unclarity and doubts regarding them. 

With this article, I am launching a blog, which will be based mainly on my practical knowledge with more than 20 years of furniture restoration experience and the theoretical knowledge I have explored over the years. I also have the opportunity to discuss many matters with vendors from a particular country, and their unique insights and the stories they tell are truly invaluable, offering a different perspective on the world of furniture restoration.

Let’s start with a brief historical sketch.

The chair we know today as Cesca was designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928. On our website, you can read a little more about this designer. His biography is not the most important here. However, happened several years before he designed the chair is crucial. Breuer bought an Adler bicycle and used it quite extensively. Its bent-tubular steel construction fascinated him to the point that he decided to transfer such solutions to the furniture field. So, in 1925, his first piece of furniture, the Wassily Chair, was created with chromed steel construction with leather.

^{Wasily chair in MoMA. Photos from the author’s collection}

The armchair proved to be a breakthrough, durable, and perfect symbol of the direction of the transformations associated with the Bauhaus spirit at the time.

Brauer continued experiments with bent chrome tubes, and in 1928, the B32 chair, now known as Cesca, and the B64 chair, a version with armrests, were created.

Since I’ve been following the history of furniture, the most successful ones require genius, and in most cases, not only of the designer but also of the maker.

The first Cesca maker who had a hand in creating its final appearance was Michael Thonet – a descendant of the famous Viennese manufacturer of furniture made of bent wood. Vienna was famous for producing furniture from rattan, hence the name” Vienna Straw.” Personally, I suspect that he was the one who suggested that Breuer use rattan instead of wood, metal, or leather for the seating. As a result, the design lost its austerity, and the combination of the natural material of warm color with steel gave a contrast and a distinctive look. The chair proved to be a pioneer. One of the few well-preserved copies from 1928 is in New York’s MoMA.

Thonet produced Cesca in its factories, but was not a huge market success. The modern forms, originating from the Bauhaus school, were relatively slow to gain recognition in Europe at the time, and some were even too revolutionary. Cesca only became popular after the war, after its collaboration with Thonet ended.
Production was probably also negatively affected by a dispute over patent rights between Breuer and Anton Lorenz, with whom he had previously collaborated. The court case dragged on for several years.

I mentioned earlier the special connection of the designer and manufacturer behind most of the brilliant furniture. In the case of the Brauer chair in the 1950s, there was still a third co-creator, Dino Gavina.

An Italian entrepreneur, he embodies the spirit of his time and the spirit of design. Many of the projects he has been involved in and the companies he has created are the essence of the Italian mid-century modern style or part of the pantheon of iconic furniture from that time.

Gavina began working with Breuer in the early 1950s. He began producing the Wassily armchair, Laccio tables, and the B32 and B64 chairs. He wanted to avoid the dry, technical names of the latter two and suggested the name after Breuer’s adopted daughter, Francesca. Hence, the name Cesca, Cesca in the standard, and Cesca with armrests. Gavina made some other minor changes to the design, which began the dizzying career of this chair. It proved to be an ideal addition to interiors in the 1960s.

During these 30 years, the world has matured to the courageous visions of the Bauhaus pioneers. The lightness of construction and minimalism perfectly fit into the mid-century modern style. Moreover, it was comfortable and durable.

Unfortunately, Gavina did not patent the rights to manufacture Cesca. This was probably related to Lorenzo’s earlier claims and the legal situation, which was unclear to the end. The Italians began producing them on a massive scale in more or less successful versions. It is estimated that millions of copies have been made since the 1960s, while the original ones may have rolled out of the Gavina factory in the tens of thousands.

The American company Knoll bought Gavina in 1968, thereby taking over the rights and technology of Breuer furniture production. They continue to manufacture them to this day.

Whether original or not, the omnipresence of the Cesca chair in Italy has created a specific archetype. We associate it with Italy when we think of a Milan apartment, our friends’ home in Rome, or the hotel where we were skiing in Piedmont can be found everywhere. This popularity is ueled by the fact that it is part of the Italian landscape despite its pedigree originating elsewhere. So much for the history and phenomenon of the chair.

If you want to get down to the nitty-gritty and specifics and find out which chairs are original, worth a lot of money, and which ones are not, go to our next article: https://futureantiques.eu/cesca-chair-is-it-still-an-original-or-already-a-replica/