A set of four early Ercol Model 392 children’s chairs from the immediate post-war period.
These are the domestic home versions rather than later contract school production. Each retains remnants of the original blue oval Ercol label beneath the seat — predating the red-dot markings associated with institutional supply.
The seats are solid English elm, selected prior to the widespread impact of Dutch Elm Disease. The dense, expressive grain visible here is characteristic of Ercol’s earlier output. Frames are beech, with tapering legs and stretchers. The single back rail and slender uprights reflect Ercolani’s pared-back Windsor logic — simplified, but rooted in craft.
Seat shaping remains relatively planar rather than deeply scooped, consistent with early production.
Dimensions
Height: 60cm
Width: 36cm
Seat height: 35cm
Renovated in the studio workshop with joints tightened and surfaces revived, retaining honest patina. Stable and level.
Available as a set of four. Pairs on request.
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Why It Works
Reduce the Windsor form and it becomes architectural. The joinery reads clearly; the elm becomes landscape.
These belong to a brief post-war moment when British domestic design absorbed Scandinavian restraint while remaining materially grounded.
Early modernism for the home — at child scale.
