This might be related to the story so I will put this here.
I do not think that version of the Thonet chair (No. 16) in the attack spawn is common if used at all in Paris.
Although I could be wrong, I can not find one picture of a Parisian cafe with the No. 16 Thonet chair. I do see many of the other variants of that bentwood chair, with a lot of them being the no. 18 and 14 closed loop.
You will find the no. 16 in Germany and some eastern EU countries, but I am pretty sure the no. 16 was not ever popular in France.
I could be wrong though…
here is a catalog of Thonet chairs
eugraph .com/thonetchairs/models.html
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I gotta admit. You know your stuff, man. I was gonna say as soon as I saw the beginning of your post - “I thought it was a no. 14!” but nope… you’re right.
Although the No. 14 was quite popular in Vienna, and South America, you do find them a lot in Paris.
But the No. 18 and and closer looped variant are more likely to be found in Paris than the no. 14.
It was strange to not find the no. 16 because you would expect many variants of Thonet’s chairs because they were very popular in EU. Apparently though, the 18 and 14 were the most popular for restaurants.
But I just could not find an example of a French cafe with the no. 16.
I think you are more likely to find the No. 16 in the US than in France, as apparently many were imported.
I have seen many sets of the no 16 up for auction over the years in the US.
*edit I will also point out that the version of the no 16 they are using are actually the licensed remake by a Polish company ZPM Radomsko in the 1950s+ and not the classic Thonet no. 16. The remake had the under brace drop down most of the length of the back legs, whereas the original Thonet no.16 the under brace was a complete ring under the seat.
Maybe even some original no. 16s without any under brace, but they were not as stable.
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