Tag: Little

Cardboard Challenge

Before:

I think this reproduction Edwardian-style armchair was originally from a certain well-known high street retailer. I found an old label stitched inside the seat’s cushion cover.

 I thought it had seen better days though I guess those days must have been even shorter then these suddenly dark and chilly ones we have had recently.

So I started ripping it down, you should of seen my face once I saw how the chair was manufactured!..Is there no end to how low some furniture manufacturer’s and suppliers will go (just to make a profit?) When I saw what was lurking underneath this piece I make no exaggeration when I call this a “cardboard copy”

Peter-Jefferies-chair-Before

After:

Lower-shot-peter-jefferies-chair

Out went all the nasty cardboard and crumbly foam fillings!

Refurbishing the arms, using English jute webbing and hessian wrapped in new rubberised hair and fresh new foams covered in polyester skin wadding.

The refurbished seat base used the same serpentine spring suspension system which were in decent nick, though this time I lashed the springs so they moved in unison and distributed the weight more evenly, prolonging their life.

The top cover (customer supplied) was from Osbourne & Little; a patterned floral weave called “Chandra”. Using a flame retardent barrier cloth to make the chair as fully compliant with the current health safety and fire regulations.

Finally finishing off the chair with old speckled gold decorative nails, choosing a hessian as a base cloth, sourcing some absolutely beautiful front legs with antique brass castors to replace the original old broken ones which had split and were missing their castors.

A much more distinguished, respectable (as well as upgraded) armchair arrived last night to a pleased customers home.

Non-Identical Twins..

Before:

The first of these pair of G-Plan E-Gomme chairs arrived in my studio last year from a lovely couple near Blackheath/Lewisham area,  who in my past many years ago had been great employers and have grown to become good friends and loyal supporters of my work, having seen my previous projects online and personally knowing what its like to run a business they were more empathic and sympathetic to the (daily) challenges faced being a self employed artisan/craftsperson

 

Cass-&-Neil-Staintons-1st-E-gomme-G-plan-chair

 

After: 

These pieces were a challenge because there not only had to be a fair few changes to the design; having prepared the show wood with the intention of developing one of these pieces to showcase a fabric textile print I had designed,  using the whole process to finally bring to market some of my previous skills in textile design into my current creative manifestation. Even roping in some fantastic help from a talented illustrator (Thanks Sarah McCarthy, your efforts will not be in vain!x)I couldn’t bring the design  to market as I couldn’t bring together enough resources  (I was attempting produce a specific fabric in time and so my customers had little choice but to choose fabrics they had sourced.

Luckily for me these customers had great taste (as well as tremendous patience), choosing 2 fabrics from Osbourne & Little:  Soumak , from their Tabriz Collection of weaves and “Dovetail” from their Abacus collection, making their use in these pieces compliant through the use of a flame retardant barrier cloth. Complimenting these fabrics,  I put together a custom wood stains for each. finishing the wood with layers of shellac and rubbing beeswax to create the right lustre. My heartfelt thanks to Katy Chaytor-Hill and Anna Frisch for their assistance.

 

G-plan-E-Gomme-chair-in-Osbourne-&-Little-'Dovetail'-from-Abacus-collection

 

 

 

 

G-plan-E-Gomme-chair-In-O&L-Soumak-Weave-from-Tabriz-Collection

 

Atelier Ray Clarke Ltd T/A Ray Clarke Upholstery & Design Company registration number :12018355