1950s Original Ernest Race Antelope Chair, Curated Exhibition Chair

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About the Item

This is a display and conversation piece for the discerning collector, with an extraordinary patina that cannot be bought, but only comes from decades of weathering – reflecting the facts of life for an outside chair from the 1951 Festival of Britain. An Original Ernest Race Antelope Chair. Sourced in the UK from a published design specialist this chair was discovered and selected as the centre piece for a planned exhibition at the Chelsea Arts College which was curated by a historian who worked for Race. The chair is an early surviving 1950s version, with original ball brass feet. The original ply seat has been weathered beyond use and makes a fascinating conversation piece. Ernest Race is regarded as Britain’s most brilliant post-war designer but sadly died quite young. His best-known designs are the BA3 aluminium chair of 1945 and the Antelope, designed for the Festival of Britain in 1951.The BA3 won a gold medal at the 10th Milan Trienale in 1954, where the Antelope also won a silver medal. He was made a Royal Designer for Industry in 1953.The Antelope chair was designed for the 1951 Festival of Britain terraces. Race had previously worked with engineer J. W. Noel Jordan on furniture for the Utility Scheme during the Second World War. With wood rationed, they created designs with materials that were widely available namely aluminium and steel rods which were widely used in war manufacturing. As recognition for his work on the Utility Furniture scheme during the Second World War, Race was chosen to design the furniture for the prestigious Festival Hall event. The Antelope bench and chair ( in the V&A’s collection) incorporated atomic era imagery, as can be seen in the balled feet, evocative of atoms, with a curving top rail reminiscent of the cartoonish style of the graphic illustrators of the 1940s and 1950s. These features reflected the Festival of Britain's ambition to inspire grey, post-war Britain and was a huge turning point in modernism. The use of steel rods was a first, and reflected the interest in the machine age aesthetic that had developed from pre-war Modernism. The Antelope chair won a silver medal at the Salone di Milano International Furniture Fair, 1955, and is still in production to this date by Race Furniture. This model is an early 1950s original chair. Measure: Seat height 46cm Workshop report Our workshop team inspect every product and carry out any needed repairs to ensure that everything leaves us serviced and maintained ready for many more years of life. All of our vintage products show the rich beauty and history of their life with the knocks and bumps of many years of use and we try to minimise restoration to keep every piece as original as possible.

Dimensions:
Height: 31.11 in (79 cm)Width: 20.48 in (52 cm)Depth: 18.12 in (46 cm)Seat Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Metal
Place of Origin:
United Kingdom
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
1950
Condition:
Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Hook, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 50131stDibs: LU4494222496412

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