Bentwood

A process that involves wetting or steaming wood, bending it, and letting it dry and harden into a curved shape. This technique has used been all over the world for thousands of years; some First Nations people of the Pacific Northwest made bentwood boxes by steaming and bending a single piece of wood; traditional uses of these varied from storing food and clothing to serving burial purposes. The Thonet Brothers (est. 1843) developed the first industrial-scale production processes for bentwood; their Side Chair is an iconic example of the technique.