Tubular Model KS 41g Armchair by Anton Lorenz, 1930s

Tubular steel armchair, model KS 41g with oak armrests and black upholstery after a design by Anton Lorentz. This is an early example by an unknown manufacturer and not produced by DESTA or Thonet who are the original producers. In the early days it was not possible to protect or copyright any tubular steel furniture since it was the general opinion that these designs had no artistic value. Very hard to grasp that thought today. So many companies around Europe did produce the same models by the Bauhaus students like Anton Lorentz, Marcel Breuer and Mart Stam. This example is in a very good condition with new upholstery.

The KS 41g armchair model is based on a prototype from the workshops of the Standard Möbel company. When the company was bought by Thonet in April 1929, the prototype remained with Anton Lorenz, former executive director of Standard Möbel. It inspired Marcel Breuer’s Thonet model B 34 and served as the basis for Lorenz’s KS 41g from the product range of his new company Desta. A dispute erupted when both Breuer and Lorenz took credit for the creation of the prototype.

Typical of Lorenz’ designs, the KS 41g features a continuous closed tube for the seat and backrest. It is anchored in the supporting structure, whose simple form dispenses with back legs. The front edge of the seat, as already seen in the prototype, is bent back by 180 degrees at knee-height, so that a seated person does not come into contact with the tubular steel itself. It is well established that Marcel Breuer never used this kind of bending, while Lorenz actually took out a patent for it in 1929.