Ercol is the name of a British furniture manufacturer. The firm dates back to 1920, when it was established in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, as Furniture Industries by

Lucian Ercolani Lucian Randolph Ercolani (8 May 1888 – 9 June 1976),Anita McConnell, ‘Ercolani, Lucian Randolph (1888–1976)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200accessed 17 Feb 2010/ref> was an Italian furniture des ...

(1888–1976).

History

Origins

In 1944, Ercol was contracted by the government

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

to produce 100,000 low-cost

Windsor chair A Windsor chair is a chair built with a solid wooden seat into which the chair-back and legs are round- tenoned, or pushed into drilled holes, in contrast to standard chairs (whose back legs and back uprights are continuous). The seats of Windsor ...

s – chairs with a

bentwood Bentwood objects are those made by wetting wood (either by soaking or by steaming), then bending it and letting it harden into curved shapes and patterns. In furniture making this method is often used in the production of rocking chairs, cafe ...

frame and an arched back supporting delicate spindles. For the order to become commercial success, Ercol perfected the

steam bending Steam bending is a woodworking technique where wood is exposed to steam to make it pliable. Heat and moisture from steam can soften wood fibres enough so they can be bent and stretched, and when cooled down they will hold their new shape. In mod ...

of wood in large quantities. The wood selected was English

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

– a wood previously thought impossible to bend because it is distorted. Ercol's innovation meant the chair could be assembled from 14 pre-formed components, and mechanisation meant that a chair could be made every 20 seconds. In 1946, Ercol exhibited its

furniture at the

Britain Can Make It ''Britain Can Make It'' was an exhibition of industrial and product design held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1946. It was organised by the '' Council of Industrial Design'', later to become the ''Design Council''. Background E ...

exhibition, held at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London. In 1947, the first production-line

, and other pieces from the range of Windsor furniture, went on sale. Ercol's mass-produced furniture found a ready market in post-war Britain, which demanded smaller pieces with simpler lines than their chunky pre-war counterparts. Ercol furniture was exhibited at the 1951

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

, as it represented the latest style and fashion in furniture design and manufacture.

Modern day

In 2002 Ercol moved to a new purpose-built facility in

Princes Risborough Princes Risborough () is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England, about south of Aylesbury and north west of High Wycombe. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns, the south end ...

, Buckinghamshire, where it produces furniture made from North American

and European ash, beech, oak and walnut from naturally regenerative forests. This facility has won a number of awards for its architecture, design and environmental features. The building's heat and hot water is provided from wood waste, whilst the company does not use solvent-based stains and lacquers, instead using the more environmentally friendly water-based versions. Ercol sources its fabrics from mills in Italy and Belgium, and offers a choice of over 100 different fabrics on its upholstery. Ercol upholstery, with its solid wood frames, can generally have the cushions replaced when they wear out, prolonging the life of the suite. It offers a reCover service to supply replacement cushions. Ercol's ranges of upholstery, dining, cabinet and occasional furniture are on sale through a network of retailers in the UK, Europe, Japan and Korea and directly to other territories, whilst a range of ex-display and factory seconds are available from its factory outlet in Princes Risborough. Ercol's Gina recliner was the first piece of domestic furniture to be awarded the Ergonomics Excellence award by

FIRA Firá ( el, Φηρά, pronounced ) is the modern capital of the Greek Aegean island of Santorini (Thera). A traditional settlement,http://www.visitgreece.gr Greek National Tourism Organisation "Firá" derives its name from an alternative pron ...

, the UK furniture industry's independent furniture test house. In 2008 Ercol launched two-bedroom ranges – Savona and Paladina – taking it back into the bedroom. Ercol has been awarded the Manufacturing Guildmark by the

Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers The Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers referred to as The Furniture Makers' Company, is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation was formed in 1952, and was granted Livery status by the City in 1963 being the 83 ...

in recognition of its commitment to design and to quality of manufacture. Ercol's Treviso range was shortlisted for the annual Wood Awards held in the autumn of 2009. In 2010 Ercol was awarded two Design Guild Marks by the

out of only twenty issued for the year. The Design Guild Mark is issued by Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers – the industry's guild. The guild mark is awarded "for excellence in the design of furniture. It will mark and reward the work of the finest designers working in Britain." The first award was in recognition of the designs of the company's founder, Lucian Ercolani, embodied in the Originals range. The Originals are a small collection of pieces reissued from Ercol's back catalogue. The Old Man, as he is affectionately known within the company, trained as a furniture designer at Shoreditch Technical Institute, making his first piece of furniture in 1907. The Originals collection reflected a break from the heavy, ornate pre-war styles towards a new clean lined, simple elegance. They were first launched in the late 1950s. As well as its presence in UK retailers' stores, and its own showroom at its Princes Risborough facility, Ercol attends a number of trade and consumer exhibitions and holds a number of events at its showroom. In 2009 Ercol will be exhibiting at the design show Trent London which is open to the public and in January 2010 at the national trade show at the NEC, Birmingham Interiors Birmingham. Ercol partnered design magazine Wallpaper for one of the major installations at the 2009

London Design Festival London Design Festival is a citywide design event that takes place over nine days every September across London. It was conceived by Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans CBE in 2003 and celebrated its 20th edition in September 2022. In an article by ...

– a modern interpretation of the Chair Arch, to be given pride of place in the Central Courtyard of the

V&A Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in September 2009. In Victorian times towns would mark a particularly special occasion, such as the visit of a VIP, with an arch adorned with the town's main commodity. The arch would then form the centre of festivities. In 1877 High Wycombe, famous for its chair manufacturing, built a chair arch for the visit of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...

at his home,

Hughenden Manor Hughenden Manor, Hughenden, Buckinghamshire, England, is a Victorian mansion, with earlier origins, that served as the country house of the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. It is now owned by the National Trust and o ...

. The idea originated with the Town Council, who deputised it to one of their members, Walter Skull, to organise through the Chair Manufacturers Association. Just over fifty years later his company, Walter Skull & Son, would become part of Ercol. Later arches were erected for the visit of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1962 and for the Millennium. The Ercol-Wallpaper arch will though be dramatically different. Designed by Martino Gamper, it comprises two overlapping spans, all of the same chair – Ercol's stacking chair. After showing at the V&A it moved in 2010 to the V&A Museum of Childhood as part of their Sit Down! exhibition of children's seating through the years. Ercol took part in The Dock as part of the

.Curated by designer Tom Dixon, Situated at The Portobello Dock, the exhibition was over , spanning the Grand Union Canal.

Sources

* L. R. Ercolani ''A Furniture Maker: His Life, His Works and His Observations'', (London: Ernest Benn, 1975)

External links

Ercol company website
{{Authority control 1920 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies based in Buckinghamshire Manufacturing companies established in 1920 British furniture makers Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Woodworking Wycombe District British companies established in 1920 1920 establishments in England