Description

Super cool mid century sling dining chairs designed by Maurice Burke for Arkana in the 1970s. Black leather chairs with chrome frames.

Arkana furniture seems to have been made originally in Dundee or Falkirk. The pieces they are best known for are the tulip ranges which are 1960s and 70s versions of the designs of Eero Saarinen for Knoll in the mid 1950s . The tulip and star ranges are mainly seen in white, the tables with laminate tops and metal bases, but sometimes also the more expensive and stylish ones in rosewood on aluminium bases. At some point in the mid to late 1960s Arkana was taken over by Christie Tyler, who by that stage already owned Avalon Furniture, and production of Arkana pieces subsequently moved from Scotland to Bath. Christie Tyler were a successful upholstery manufacturer who, in the 1960s, started to take over furniture makers such as Avalon, Bath Cabinet Makers and Arkana. They seem to have had major problems around 1985 and closed Avalon at this time, BCM and Arkana having gone prior to that, in the late 1970s. Christie Tyler went bankrupt in 2005. Unfortunately Christie Tyler’s history is typical of British furniture and upholstery manufacture with various takeovers, closures and financial problems. Some brand names still survive but now have little to do with their original roots.

Structurally sound and chrome is bright and clean. Leather looks great with some very small pin prick type marks (see photos). Please note that there is a little ‘play’ with these sling chairs, courtesy of their design. The chairs remain strong, complete and ready for further decades of use.

W65 x D67 x H74cm (Seat Height: 45cm)