Armchair with wooden arms and upholstered seat and back cushions, Parker Knoll model PK36.
Identifier
FPF450
Title
Armchair with wooden arms and upholstered seat and back cushions, Parker Knoll model PK36.
Date
Designed 1935-1940, this model probably made 1950-1960.
Description
Armchair with wooden arms and upholstered seat and back cushions, Parker Knoll model PK36.
Full Description
This armchair has a stained and varnished wooden frame, probably of beech or birch. The arms are shaped and curved, and rest on curved supports fixed to the side rails of the seat. The front legs are square, tapered and end in block feet. The back posts are continuous with the back legs, which are raked. The seat and back cushions rest on steel tension springs stretched across the frame. The springs appear to be original; those under the seat are hooked into Parker Knoll branded webbing, which appears to have been replaced, while the back springs are held by small caps fitted along the back posts. The back cushion has tapes tying it to the frame to keep it in place. The upholstery cover is a floral chintz which is probably a replacement.
This PK36 armchair was made by Parker Knoll shortly before WWII. The factory ceased furniture production during the war, when it made military equipment and aircraft parts, and resumed furniture manufacture in 1947. This chair was probably made in the 1950s and 1960s. Open, wooden frame armchairs had not proved particularly popular with the public in the 1930s, but after the war people were ready for a new look and modernist styles became increasingly fashionable.
The Parker Knoll patent number, which is visible on the chair rail, is the same as that on the PK199 model (FPF449 in the Frederick Parker Collection).
This PK36 armchair was made by Parker Knoll shortly before WWII. The factory ceased furniture production during the war, when it made military equipment and aircraft parts, and resumed furniture manufacture in 1947. This chair was probably made in the 1950s and 1960s. Open, wooden frame armchairs had not proved particularly popular with the public in the 1930s, but after the war people were ready for a new look and modernist styles became increasingly fashionable.
The Parker Knoll patent number, which is visible on the chair rail, is the same as that on the PK199 model (FPF449 in the Frederick Parker Collection).
Condition
Good.
Cushion covers probably replaced.
Cushion covers probably replaced.
Materials
Beech or birch, probably.
Steel tension springs
Upholstery.
Steel tension springs
Upholstery.
Physical Dimensions
H. 90
W. 60
D. 86
W. 60
D. 86
Marks
Parker Knoll Patent No 322638 embossed in red on the inside back seat rail.
Parker Knoll name woven into the webbing for the springs.
Parker Knoll name woven into the webbing for the springs.
Parker Numbers
PK36.
Provenance
Acquired for the Collection by Jonathan Arnold, c.2000.
Notes
Greg Stevenson, The 1930s Home, Shire Publications Ltd, 2016.
Stephen Bland, Take a Seat, the Story of Parker Knoll 1834-1994, Baron, 1995, pp. 67-8. See also pp. 105-7 and 113-8 for Parker Knoll and the Utility scheme.
Stephen Bland, Take a Seat, the Story of Parker Knoll 1834-1994, Baron, 1995, pp. 67-8. See also pp. 105-7 and 113-8 for Parker Knoll and the Utility scheme.
