Mies Van Der Rohe For Thonet Leather & Chrome MR20 Chair

The Mies van der Rohe MR20 chair (also known as the Weissenhof Chair) is a landmark of modern furniture design and a pioneering example of the cantilevered form. The MR20 was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1927 for the Weissenhofsiedlung Exhibition in Stuttgart, a landmark event for the Modernist movement . The chair's development was directly influenced by Mart Stam's gas tube chair, which was the first cantilever design—a chair with no back legs, where the sitter's weight creates the spring that supports the structure . According to Sergius Ruegenberg, who worked in Mies's office, Mies improved Stam's original design by sketching a curved, rounded arc over  and said, "If he had at least rounded it off—that would be nicer." That single gesture created the MR chair

The MR20 was also used in the Velvet and Silk Café exhibition in Berlin in 1927, co-designed by Mies and Lilly Reich, and later appeared in Mies's iconic architectural projects including the Villa Tugendhat (1929) and the Farnsworth House

The MR20's design significance is underscored by its inclusion in major museum collections worldwide, including:

• Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Accession no. CIRC.861-1968) 

• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao (Inventory no. 24/432) 

• Iparművészeti Múzeum, Budapest 

This stunning chair is the leather "bootstraps" version which is less common than the cane version, particularly early production runs. These models were produced under license by various manufacturers over the decades, including Thonet (1930s-60s), Knoll (post-1950s).