The furniture made by Thonet Brothers (the firm named in 1853 for the sons of the firm’s founder, Michael Thonet), was the first to have been both mass produced and shipped knocked-down. The design of Thonet furniture directly reflected its ‘production line’ manufacturing process, with the making of each element broken down into a series of individual tasks. The firm’s key design principle was to manufacture as many chair models from as few different parts as possible. These parts were then packed in boxes, for ease of shipping, and assembled by Thonet shops or distributors rather than consumers. The method of shipping meant that prices could be kept lower than that of furniture shipped fully assembled. This particular model was Thonet’s most popular between the 1860s and the 1930s, with some 50 million said to have been manufactured during that period. Manufacture continues today.