Hi Mark,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

These chairs are in the Wassily design by Marcel Breuer, who is significant as one of the key figures who helped define modern furniture design in the 20th century—especially through his work at the Bauhaus and his pioneering use of industrial materials like tubular steel.

What makes Breuer important is that he helped shift furniture away from traditional woodworking and ornamentation toward a machine-age aesthetic. While teaching and working at the Bauhaus in the 1920s, he began experimenting with bent tubular steel—an industrial material inspired by bicycle frames. This was a radical break at the time, treating furniture almost like engineered objects rather than handcrafted decorative pieces.

The Wassily Chair is one of his most famous designs and is considered one of the first modern tubular steel chairs. It became iconic for its minimal structure, exposed frame, and use of canvas or leather slings instead of upholstery.

Breuer’s original Wassily Chair examples were typically marked, but the situation is a bit nuanced because marking practices changed over time and varied by manufacturer.

Early production (1920s–1930s), when the chair was first made by companies such as Thonet and later other licensees, often included paper labels, stamps, or metal tags rather than permanent impressions. These marks might appear on the tubular steel frame, leather straps, or underside of the chair. Surviving original Bauhaus-era examples are extremely rare, but when they do appear, markings are usually subtle and can include “Breuer,” “Bauhaus,” or the manufacturer’s stamp.

However, most Wassily chairs encountered on the market today are later licensed productions. In particular, modern editions produced by companies like Knoll (which has held the official rights for decades) are more consistently marked.

You don't mention if this is marked, and I don't see any labels, stamps, brands or otherwise in the photos.

I've appraised these as a pair of Breuer Style Wassily chairs, which are not as valuable as originals. If there are markings that would identify these more positively as being authentic originals, please let me know with additional images (you shouldn't be limited in the number of images you post) and I'll update this appraisal as necessary.

While both originals and later authorized reproductions can retail for a few thousand dollars each, when unmarked chairs come to auction they typically sell for between $400 and $600, with pairs bringing around $1,000 (and marked chairs in as-is condition bringing a bit more).

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

A pair of vintage Marcel Breuer style Wassily chrome and leather armchairs
circa 1960s
(DIMENSIONS)
CONDITION: these chairs appear to be in good cosmetic condition
PROVENANCE: purchased in Italy in the 1960s
$ 800-1,200 for the pair*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia