// Instant Expert
Ercol exhibited at both the 'Britain Can Make It' exhibition at the V&A in 1946 and Festival of Britain in 1951. The firm's most familiar pieces include the Butterfly chairs, Plank dining table and Trio nest of three small pebble-shaped tables. Today there has been resurgence in interest with collectors keen to acquire vintage examples and owing to the quality of their manufacture many original examples have survived.
ARCHIE SHINE In the early 1960s, Robert Heritage was responsible for designing the teak and rosewood home furnishings that the East London firm Archie Shine created, sold mainly through Heal's. Archie Shine's high quality furnishings were aimed at the affluent middle classes cleverly combining the minimalist feel of the fifties with the more masculine feel of the sixties.
STAG By the time post-war rationing ended in 1952, buyers were eager for new and stylish furnishings and manufacturers were looking for designers with the talent to create inspiring products. Architects Sylvia and John Reid were employed by The Stag Cabinet Company of Nottingham during the 1950s and 1960s to design the firm's modern, machine-made, mass-market ranges of bedroom and dining room furniture.
Designs were simple and elegant with plain lines and clean silhouettes accented by subtle details such as copper feather inlay panels or decorative grooves on drawers. Archie Shine is an example of British furniture that is just as good in quality and design as the Scandinavian pieces of the period. Today collectors are keen to find the classic wall mounted units, consoles and coffee tables.
HILLE with ROBIN DAY Hille was a British furniture manufacturer founded in 1906 that had built a reputation in traditional solid British furniture. The post-war saw a desire to change direction and move towards a more modern audience. Hiring Robin Day as designer in 1949 was a masterstroke that led to a collection of simple, affordable, but technically innovative tables, chairs, desks and storage units.
The Hille/Robin Day partnership was prolific with a total of over 150 designs in 44 years and marked by the development of low cost and high volume furnishings, some of which, for instance the 1963 'Polyprop Stacking' chair, have never been out of production. Though Day approached his job as practical problem solving, his pared-down solutions were also beautiful and inspired.
Despite being produced in volume, Stag's veneered wood sideboards and sofas, tables and chests were of exceptional quality while pitched at a competitive price aimed at the new breed of baby boomers looking to mark their own identity on their new homes. Today a new breed of young collector has latched onto the charms of this classic 50’s furniture seeking out suites such as the 'C' range, a stark, functional bedroom suite, featuring simple box-shaped units with recessed handles in light oak or darker walnut. Launched in 1953, the 'C' range was a commercial hit at the time and highly influential for other designers. Also popular is the ’S’ range dining suite launched in 1960, comprising low sideboard on satin polished steel legs with a simple oval dining table.
Those in the know are already one step ahead of you, as prices have slowly but steadily increased over the last five to ten years. Cabinets once £20 and £30 are now £200 and £300 and some of the rarer pieces are easily fetching in excess of four figures. There are however countless examples of this distinctive style languishing in the bedrooms and lounges of your parents and grandparents, purchased as lifelong utility pieces that have survived to become the epitome of good taste all over again! So its time to raid the relations and turn your pad into an uber cool mid-century modern design statement!
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