- Lucian Ercolani
Lucian Randolph Ercolani (1888–1976), furniture designer, was born in
St Angelo ,Tuscany , Italy. His father, Abdon Ercolani, a pictureframe maker, migrated toLondon , England, in search of work, and in 1898 was joined by his family. Lucian Ercolani attended aSalvation Army school in London, which he left in 1902, aged 14, to take up a job as aSalvation Army messenger boy. Encouraged by his parents to continue his education, Ercolani enrolled for night school atShoreditch Technical Institute , where he studied drawing, design, and the theory and construction of furniture. In the early 1900s,Shoreditch was a thriving centre of furniture-making.By 1906, Ercolani was working in the
Salvation Army joinery department, producing staircases and handrails. In 1910, Frederick Parker (later ofParker-Knoll fame) invited him to join his firm, which made furniture at workshops inHigh Wycombe , the 'furniture capital' of England. In 1912, Ercolani took up a part-time appointment atHigh Wycombe Technical School , teaching furniture design to evening classes which were attended byHigh Wycombe ’s furniture makers. It was here that he met Edward Gomme, son of a High Wycombe chair-maker. At the outbreak ofWorld War I , Ercolani joinedE Gomme Ltd. , chair-makers (whoseG-Plan range of furniture enjoyed considerable success in the 1950s and 1960s). As Ercolani recorded in his biography: "“At Gomme’s … it seemed to me … that the simple chair was the outcome of very good and precise workmanship.”"Ercolani was married in 1915, to Eva Brett, and they had three children. He took British citizenship in 1923.
In 1920, Ercolani had joined a furniture-making consortium in
High Wycombe , trading asFurniture Industries . The business expanded through acquisition, and government orders duringWorld War II for wooden tent pegs andbentwood chairs ensured its success. In the late-1940s, Ercolani developed his range of mass-producedErcol furniture, which became a household name in post-war Britain, and which continues today.See also
*
Ercol External links
* [http://www.ercol.com/ Ercol company website]
Source
"A Furniture Maker: His Life, His Works and His Observations", L. R. Ercolani (London: Ernest Benn, 1975)
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.