The B3 armchair was drawn at the Bauhaus in 1925, and most of what is said about it is wrong. It was not designed for Wassily Kandinsky; the Centre Pompidou is explicit that the name came from the Italian manufacturer Gavina decades later. Knoll did not commission it either, and says so plainly: it acquired Gavina in 1968, and Marcel Breuer never worked directly for the company. What is true is that a genuine frame carries a Knoll stamp and a facsimile signature. Every piece here is an original, authenticated and restored, then delivered in 1 to 5 days. Originals only.
Marcel Breuer, from the Bauhaus Joinery Shop to Knoll
Marcel Lajos Breuer was born in Pecs, Hungary, on 21 May 1902 and died in New York on 1 July 1981. He arrived at the Bauhaus in 1920 as a student, became a young master and head of the joinery workshop, and left in 1928. He moved to London in 1935, where Isokon produced his Long Chair in 1936, and to the United States in 1937, taking citizenship in 1944. The architecture came later: the UNESCO headquarters in Paris with Pier Luigi Nervi and Bernard Zehrfuss between 1953 and 1958, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1966.
The manufacturing history explains why authentication on a Breuer runs through the maker. He founded Standard-Mobel in Berlin with Kalman Lengyel in 1926 to produce his tubular steel programme, and Thonet bought the company in 1929. The cantilever that became the B32 has a contested authorship: on 1 June 1932 the Reichsgericht in Leipzig awarded artistic copyright in the cubic cantilever form to Mart Stam, and the Bundesgerichtshof confirmed it in 1961. Thonet still makes that chair as the S 32 and S 64, attributed to Marcel Breuer with artistic copyright Mart Stam. Gavina of Bologna reissued the B3 from 1964 as the Wassily; Knoll bought Gavina in 1968 and has made the Wassily, the Cesca and the Laccio tables ever since, latterly as part of MillerKnoll.
New, a Knoll Wassily is £1,835 in the UK and a Knoll Cesca is £725; a Thonet S 32 V is £1,077 at Aram. Copies sell into the UK from around £300, a much narrower gap than on most classics, which is why the marks matter more here than the price does. Knoll stamps the frame with its logo and Breuer's signature in facsimile and publishes no serial-number system at all, so anyone quoting you a serial number is describing a test that does not exist. Every original here is authenticated, restored where needed, and delivered in 1 to 5 days with the Forever Guarantee and a 30-day home trial. Design doesn't depreciate. Browse the originals.
Marcel Breuer: frequently asked questions
Who was Marcel Breuer?
Marcel Breuer was a Hungarian-born designer and architect, born in Pecs in 1902 and died in New York in 1981. He joined the Bauhaus as a student in 1920 and ran its joinery workshop before leaving in 1928. He designed the first bent tubular steel furniture, then built a second career in architecture, including the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1966.
Was the Wassily chair designed for Wassily Kandinsky?
No. The Centre Pompidou states it directly: although the chair is often linked to Kandinsky, a fellow Bauhaus professor, it was not originally designed for him. Kandinsky admired it and Breuer gave him a copy. The name Wassily was coined decades later by Gavina as marketing when it reissued the B3 in the 1960s.
Who makes Marcel Breuer's furniture today?
Knoll, now part of MillerKnoll, makes the Wassily chair, the Cesca chair and the Laccio tables, rights it acquired by buying Gavina in 1968. Thonet has made the cantilever chair continuously since 1930 as the S 32 and S 64, and does not use the name Cesca, which is Knoll's. Isokon still makes the Long Chair to order.
Where can I buy pre-owned Marcel Breuer furniture in the UK?
REHAUS sells authenticated, original Breuer designs in the UK. Because Breuer never manufactured anything himself, provenance runs through the maker, so every piece is checked against Knoll or Thonet marks before listing, restored where needed, and delivered nationwide in 1 to 5 days with the Forever Guarantee and a 30-day home trial.
How do I know a Knoll Wassily is genuine?
Knoll stamps the frame with the Knoll or KnollStudio logo and Marcel Breuer's signature in facsimile, alongside product content labels. That stamp is the published test. Knoll operates no serial-number register for the Breuer pieces, so a seller offering a serial number is inventing one. Earlier Gavina examples carry a decal label instead, reading like Gavina No. 3831 Wassily.
Is pre-owned Marcel Breuer furniture worth buying?
It depends what you buy. A new Knoll Wassily is £1,835 in the UK, so a documented pre-owned example saves real money, but later Knoll production is common and does not command a premium at auction. The value sits with early Gavina-era chairs and with documented provenance. Every piece here is authenticated and carries the Forever Guarantee.
How is it delivered, and can I return it?
Each piece is delivered in 1 to 5 days, with white-glove delivery complimentary on qualifying orders. Every order comes with a 30-day home trial, so you can live with it before committing. If it is not right, returns are straightforward. Because each piece is one of one, it is only truly yours once it has shipped.
Why buy Marcel Breuer from REHAUS?
REHAUS sells originals only. Every piece is authenticated against the manufacturer's own marks, restored to a high standard and delivered fast across the UK, with the Forever Guarantee and a 30-day home trial. You get a documented Knoll or Thonet chair rather than one of the £300 copies that share its outline and nothing else.
