Wendy Shorter-Blake MBE is the current chairman of the Frederick Parker Collection Committee and will be hosting a visit by students and members of the AMUSF on Friday 11th February at 11 a.m. There will be a talk by Wendy, and you will be able to view chairs in this unique collection as well as some of the archive material.

The Frederick Parker Collection is a unique and outstanding collection of almost 200 British chairs, ranging in date from 1660 to the present day. The collection also includes a substantial archive of related historical documents, artefacts and some company information covering the period 1880 to 2001.

Frederick Parker & Sons Ltd was first established in 1871. The firm’s output of high quality, hand-made furniture, was supported by the establishment of a collection of chairs, from earlier periods, from which the firm’s craftsmen could take inspiration and learn the techniques of the past. A growing reputation for excellence during the first half of the twentieth century brought the firm contracts to supply furniture for ocean liners such as Cunard’s RMS Aquitania and the P&O liner, HMS Ophir.

In the 1930s following a collaboration with Willi Knoll, a German furniture designer who had invented a tension suspension system for chairs, the family business was renamed and rebranded as Parker Knoll. Designs marketed as ‘Parker Knoll’ were produced alongside the more traditional furniture and the famous Parker Knoll recliner chair, regularly updated and refined, has become a highly successful, quality product which is firmly established as a staple of British furniture excellence.

The Frederick Parker Collection is owned by the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers one of the livery companies of the City of London and has been on long-term loan to London Metropolitan University since 2002.

Visit Date: Friday 17th February 2023 at 11 a.m.

Visit Fee: £10.00 per person

Please Note:

• Refunds for cancellations will not be made unless 14 days’ notice is given prior to the visit date.
• Participants should meet at London Metropolitan University, Calcutta House, Old Castle St, London E1 7NT at 10.45 a.m. (A three minute walk from Aldgate Tube Station).
• There are no parking facilities.