Design Classic: Originals Bar Stool

Designer: Lucian Ercolani, circa 1950. Rereleased 2003.

Details: Ash and beech bar stools, £240 each, Ercol.

As elegantly simple as when it was first conceived, Ercol’s Originals bar stool is a prime example of the clean-lined aesthetic that was to reimagine UK furniture during the Fifties, far removed from the heavy, ornate pre-war styles.

Originally made for Ercol’s draughtsmen to use at their drawing boards, its moulded elm seat and tapered beech legs would become synonymous with the company’s contemporary take on crafted pieces.

But founder Lucian Ercolani faced the unenviable task of producing top-quality furniture while also keeping within the strictures of post-war rationing.

Sleek but sturdy, the bar stool fitted all the criteria. Manufactured using time-honoured techniques, it became a commercial success.

And when the company rereleased the piece as part of its Original collection in 2003, it readily found a new audience.

Curiously enough, Ercolani first began studying furniture design at a night school in Shoreditch and it’s within this hipster ’hood that Ercol’s pieces have enjoyed much of their renaissance, satisfying the interior world’s hunger for all things mid-century.

Quality craft never goes out of fashion.