THE WINDSOR FURNITURE FAMILY

Ercol’s growing mastery of the Windsor chair idiom was demonstrated in its 1956 collection, which promised: ‘Chairs that welcome you with open arms, dining chairs to feast your eyes on, a love seat you will love at first sight, settees to settle down in, even a stool to put your feet up on.’ The curved horizontal seatback, first seen in the lattice-backed 280 Chair, was now adopted for the 333 Small Chair (1956), with its five vertical spindles and oyster-shaped seat. The chairs ‘with open arms’ were the 333A Armchair (1956) and the 339 Rocking Chair (1956), whose curved seatbacks swept round to the front supported by seven sticks, cradling the sitter. The pronounced diagonal angle of the arm support and the upward kink of the armrest added to the sculptural dynamism of these pieces.

As Ercol predicted, the 349 Love Seat (1956) quickly established itself as one of the company’s most iconic designs. Epitomising the imaginative way in which the Windsor theme was extended, the Love Seat was a literal extension of the 333 Small Chair, its long curved seatback supported by 13 spindles, increased to 19 in a later variant, the 450 Love Seat (1960). This eye-catching feature, along with the sculpted quality of the double ‘shaped out’ seat, made it one of the most spectacular designs in the range.

As publicity photographs demonstrated, the Love Seat was multi-functional: it could either be used as bench seating at a dining table, as ‘an occasional settee’ in the living room or as a hall or landing seat. Two more classic Ercol dining chairs were added to the range the following year. The 365 Quaker Chair (1957) had a narrow back with a tall, slender tapering arched bow. The 369 Goldsmith’s Chair (1957) was a high-backed chair with a wavy seatback. Both had oyster-shaped seats and both were produced in armchair versions as well. The 365A Quaker Armchair was displayed in the British Industries Pavilion at the Brussels Expo in 1958, specially selected by the Council of Industrial Design as an example of well-designed consumer goods. Significantly, Ercol was one of only five furniture companies chosen to exhibit, along with Gomme, Meredew, Gordon Russell and A. Younger.

In September 1957 Ercol announced the launch of the 391 All Purpose Windsor Chair and the 392 Stacking Chair. Although principally intended for cafes and canteens, these designs entered the domestic range as well. The 391 Chair was cheaper and more overtly utilitarian, with its square section seatback and trio of reinforcing spindles rising from the rear stretcher rather than the seat. This model retailed at 38s 6d, whereas the 392 Stacking Chair cost 47s 6d.