The Ercol Windsor Furniture Story: History, Design and Craftsmanship

The 203 Windsor Bergere Easy Chair and Settee (1953) – the first models on which this feature was adopted – were low-slung, with a deep seat, a high bow back and short splayed legs. These best-selling designs, which remained in production for many years, regularly appeared in advertisements. From 1956 onwards they were supplemented by the 341 Low Stool which, when abutted with the 203 Easy Chair, created a chaise longue. Although the 203 range was initially fitted with cable springs, by 1956 Ercol had switched to rubber webbing, a much lighter and more flexible system, referred to as ‘The Ercolion’s new suspenders’. This webbing, which had been developed by the Italian manufacturer Pirelli as an offshoot of its rubber tyres, consisted of lightweight rubber-coated fabric straps stretched across the frame. The same technique was used for the low-backed 334 Easy Chair and Settee (1956) and for all ‘sprung’ pieces in the Windsor range from this date onwards. Cushions, too, changed fundamentally during the mid 1950s, with down-filled and spring-filled cushions being replaced by latex foam rubber.

Although Pirelli webbing was adopted industry-wide, Ercol was one of the first firms in Britain to adopt this technology. Typically, Ercolani and his technicians customised the system to suit the specific requirements of his designs. Whereas other firms either tacked the webbing to the underside of the seat or wrapped it round the frame, on Ercol’s chairs the straps were anchored in a groove cut into the frame, held in place by means of a dowel slotted into the recess. The company was so proud of this system, which was both neat and secure, that it patented the design. Ercol’s chair frames were often photographed without cushions in publicity images so that customers could admire the upholstery system itself. Before introducing a new technique such as this, rigorous testing was carried out. The webbing system developed for the 427 Easy Chair (1959), for example, was tested using a 12-stone robot sitter 87,064 times, the equivalent of eight sittings a day for 30 years.

Ercol’s reputation for reliability, which had been fundamental to its ethos from its earliest days, was a vital tool in marketing the Windsor Range. The company was always on the lookout for improvements, which explains why the webbing configurations on certain long-lived models were altered over time. Initially the webbing ran widthways on chairs and front to back on settees. Later it was altered so that a mesh of webbing ran both lengthways and widthways for added strength. Adopting a belt and braces approach, Ercolani was particularly proud of the fact that his chairs incorporated more straps than those of other firms.