A unique collection of chairs amassed by Frederick Parker & Sons,
later Parker Knoll Ltd, has been fully catalogued and digitised and is
now available to view online at VADS:
http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/search.php
The chair collection demonstrates 350 years of British chair design
and manufacture. They are part of the Frederick Parker Collection that
also includes a collection of carvings and the Frederick Parker
Company archive.
Frederick Parker (born 1845) built up a substantial and high quality
furniture making business. He supplied furniture for ocean liners,
country houses, palaces and the high-end retail trade. Frederick
Parker was convinced that the only way his workforce could produce
fine, new furniture for contemporary use was by studying "the old
masters". Thus he collected a library of books on furniture, 360
pieces of furniture (mostly chairs) as well as examples of carvings
and textiles to inspire his designers and furniture makers.
In 2002 the Frederick Parker Foundation agreed the long-term loan of
the chairs, carvings and archive to London Metropolitan University.
The chairs went on public exhibition within Metropolitan Works at the
Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media and Design.
The Collection is a valuable educational tool, providing research and
source material for students and academics from a range of disciplines
such as interior design, conservation and museum studies, design,
furniture, social and business history.
For more information about the collection, see
http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/FPC.html
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