Refind Interiors

Easy chairs with loose cushions on a Windsor frame have come to epitomise Ercol, the first being the cable-sprung 176 Tub Easy Chair (1951). Yet, although it might seem natural to have extended the range in this direction, at the time this concept was completely untried: ‘No one else would dream of creating an easy chair out of a Windsor chair,’ Ercolani pointed out.¹⁶ The challenge was how to combine the chair frame and the upholstery in a visually harmonious way to create comfortable...

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...

Up to 1954 the basic Windsor dining chair, as exemplified by the 4A Chair and the 139 Chair, had a bow back with six spindles. The 280 Contemporary Windsor Chair (1954) marked a significant departure with its curved horizontal seatback and diagonal criss-crossing sticks. Praised by The Cabinet Maker for their ‘attractively interlaced backs’ and ‘spaced shapes’, these chairs rank amongst Ercolani’s most original designs. As well as being visually arresting, the ‘latticed and shaped stick back’...