Cesca Chairs
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Dining Room Chairs
Chrome, Steel
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Gold
20th Century Unknown Chairs
Metal
Early 20th Century Polish Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century European Chairs
Chrome
20th Century American Stools
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1980s Italian Bauhaus Chairs
Metal
20th Century Italian Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Canadian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Bouclé, Bentwood, Plywood
Mid-20th Century Italian Chairs
Metal
Early 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Dining Room Chairs
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Steel
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Bergere Chairs
Birch
Vintage 1970s American Bauhaus Armchairs
Leather
Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Stools
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century European Bauhaus Stools
Chrome
Vintage 1970s British Bauhaus Chaise Longues
Birch
Vintage 1970s British Bauhaus Chaise Longues
Birch
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Chaise Longues
Bentwood
20th Century Chaise Longues
20th Century Chaise Longues
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Chaise Longues
Bentwood, Leather
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Chaise Longues
Leather, Bentwood
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Chaise Longues
Leather, Bentwood
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Chaise Longues
Leather, Bentwood
Vintage 1970s British Bauhaus Chaise Longues
Sheepskin, Birch
Vintage 1970s British Bauhaus Chaise Longues
Sheepskin, Birch
20th Century German Bauhaus Armchairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Side Chairs
Cane
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Cane
Mid-20th Century Italian Side Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Side Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Side Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Chairs
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Italian Chairs
Cane
Mid-20th Century Italian Dining Room Chairs
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Shopping for Vintage Cesca Chairs?
Designed by Marcel Breuer (1902–81) for the Austrian furniture maker Gebrüder Thonet, the original Cesca chair is a paragon of Bauhaus design, combining natural beechwood caning and modern tubular steel for a sensibility that celebrates both handicraft and industrialization. Today vintage Cesca chairs will define casual elegance in your dining room.
Breuer got his start in architecture after dropping out of the painting program at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He began apprenticing with a Viennese architect and went on to join the Bauhaus movement in 1921, when he was just 19 years old, eventually becoming a master carpenter at the German arts school. While there, Breuer designed furniture for Sommerfeld House in Berlin, industrialist Adolf Sommerfeld’s private residence, which was conceived by architects Walter Gropius (the Bauhaus school’s founder) and Adolf Meyer. Not long afterward, Breuer’s experiments with tubular steel would yield his Wassily chair, named for his friend, painter and Bauhaus professor Wassily Kandinsky, as well as the Cesca. Whether in metal or wood, Breuer’s design objects are elegant and adaptable examples of classic modernist design — useful and appropriate in any environment.
Originally called the B32, Breuer renamed the Cesca chair in honor of his daughter, Francesca, when Italian manufacturer Gavina began producing it in the early 1960s. Knoll introduced the chair when it acquired Gavina in 1968 and continues to manufacture it today. The Cesca chair was the first-ever tubular steel frame chair with a caned seat to be mass produced — a breakthrough for furniture design.
Find vintage Cesa chairs and other seating on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Seating for You
With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.
Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.
Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.
The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.
Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.
With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.
Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.
No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.
- 1stDibs ExpertAugust 15, 2024To tell if a Cesca chair is real, examine its tubular metal frame closely. Real Cesca chairs have smoothly polished, welded ends, while reproductions often have end caps that are fitted onto the frame to hold it together. In addition, turn the chair over and examine the label under the seat. A genuine Cesca will have Marcel Breuer's signature as well as the Florence Knoll name. If you're unsure about the authenticity of a chair, have a certified appraiser or knowledgeable antique dealer evaluate it. Find a diverse assortment of Cesca chairs on 1stDibs.
- Who manufactures Cesca chairs?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Knoll furniture manufactures the Cesca chair, and has since the design debuted in 1968. Architect and designer Marcel Breuer created the first Cesca chair after leaving the Bauhaus art school in Germany and moving to the U.S. Shop a variety of Cesca chairs on 1stDibs.