Decorating
Meet Australia's Favourite 20th-Century Furniture Designers
Now vintage, but forever modern, furniture by these designers is still as coveted as it was 60 years ago
Vintage furniture is in increasingly high demand, particularly Australian vintage furniture as we come to appreciate the talent and creativity of the country’s designers, and the quality and longevity of mid-century furniture.
The post-World War II era was abuzz with innovation as designers looked to Europe, Scandinavia and America to reimagine furniture for the modern Australian lifestyle. Incorporating modernist principles, they created furniture with clean and pared-back lines, honest construction and sculptural forms. Designers also embraced new technologies, materials and retail methods to bring good design to the masses, and created furniture that was comfortable and attractive, and that has certainly gone the distance. The names and work of these eight designers have gone down in the annals of Australian furniture design. See some examples of their designs below.
The post-World War II era was abuzz with innovation as designers looked to Europe, Scandinavia and America to reimagine furniture for the modern Australian lifestyle. Incorporating modernist principles, they created furniture with clean and pared-back lines, honest construction and sculptural forms. Designers also embraced new technologies, materials and retail methods to bring good design to the masses, and created furniture that was comfortable and attractive, and that has certainly gone the distance. The names and work of these eight designers have gone down in the annals of Australian furniture design. See some examples of their designs below.
Parker’s sensibility for mid-century Scandinavian furniture led to a range of ‘Danish Parker Style’ furniture introduced in the early 1950s. Producing teak dining tables, chairs, sideboards and more, Parker Furniture soon established a reputation for quality and innovation that endured from the 1950s through the ’80s.
Today, a select range of handcrafted mid-century Parker Furniture has been reintroduced through a unique collaboration between Workshopped and Covermore Designs, which was founded by former Parker employees.
Today, a select range of handcrafted mid-century Parker Furniture has been reintroduced through a unique collaboration between Workshopped and Covermore Designs, which was founded by former Parker employees.
Grant Featherston
Grant Featherston’s furniture has experienced a renaissance in the last decade with increasing interest in mid-century design.
Featherston was a self-taught glass and furniture designer who became a creative collaborator with his wife Mary. He released his first range, The Relaxation Series, in 1947 before developing his recognisable Contour Series in the early 1950s.
Grant Featherston’s furniture has experienced a renaissance in the last decade with increasing interest in mid-century design.
Featherston was a self-taught glass and furniture designer who became a creative collaborator with his wife Mary. He released his first range, The Relaxation Series, in 1947 before developing his recognisable Contour Series in the early 1950s.
The series originated when Featherston dreamt of making a chair that would be a negative of the human body to create the concept of ‘contour comfort’. He experimented with materials and form by bending pieces sawn from flat sheets of plywood into form-fitting shapes. He then curved and joined the pieces together to make a strong and form-fitting shell for the chair.
Progressive architects applauded Featherston’s first contour chair, the R52, and frequently displayed it in their modernist suburban houses.
Progressive architects applauded Featherston’s first contour chair, the R52, and frequently displayed it in their modernist suburban houses.
Featherston followed it up with more than 25 chairs and settees (including this chaise) differentiated by function – rocking, dining, relaxation, card-playing, business. Back height and colour varied, and he also produced a cohesive series of occasional tables, dining tables and storage furniture.
Featherston’s Numero series responded to the demand for more adaptable and flexible furniture. Numero IV preceded Numero VII (pictured) and consisted of units that could be combined in various configurations for sitting and lounging in a variety of spaces. With Numero VII, Featherston created rounded modulars that can be used to create a circular seating setting.
Browse more mid-century-style interiors
Browse more mid-century-style interiors
Fred Lowen
Fred Lowen produced furniture under the brand names of Fler, Twen and later Tessa, becoming a household name in furniture design.
Fred Lowen produced furniture under the brand names of Fler, Twen and later Tessa, becoming a household name in furniture design.
Lowen was a German Jew who emigrated to Australia in 1940 having fled the Nazis for Belgium in 1938. His design and crafting career evolved from humble beginnings as he made hand-turned wooden salad bowls, trays and lazy Susans with Ernest Rodeck under the name of Fler (sideboard pictured). The pair branched into furniture and looked to the aesthetic of modernism, which represented the new way of living and a break from the old.
Fler produced furniture that had a hand-crafted feel and Scandinavian style, yet could be produced in large quantities.
In 1968 Lowen started Twen with his brother, renaming the company Tessa in 1972. Tessa is still in operation today and offers a Fred Lowen Heritage collection that includes a range of his timeless designs.
The icons of mid-century design explained
In 1968 Lowen started Twen with his brother, renaming the company Tessa in 1972. Tessa is still in operation today and offers a Fred Lowen Heritage collection that includes a range of his timeless designs.
The icons of mid-century design explained
Paul Kafka
Before emigrating to Australia in 1939, Paul Kafka trained and worked in Vienna where he was a furniture and interior designer and had a furniture retail store. Once in Australia, he soon started his custom-made furniture business, with his work furnishing many modern Sydney homes in the post-war period.
Before emigrating to Australia in 1939, Paul Kafka trained and worked in Vienna where he was a furniture and interior designer and had a furniture retail store. Once in Australia, he soon started his custom-made furniture business, with his work furnishing many modern Sydney homes in the post-war period.
Kafka’s approach to craftsmanship and modern design was in marked contrast to the mass-produced furniture available in Australia in the 1940s and ’50s. Many of his clients were Europeans who migrated to Australia, like Kafka himself, and wished to maintain the same standard of furniture they had been accustomed to in Europe.
Kafka produced built-in and freestanding furniture for a number of migrant architects, including Hugh Buhrich, Harry Seidler, Harry Epstein and Hugo Stossel. Like Kafka’s customers, they admired his work for its stylish aesthetic and fine craftsmanship, and much of his work is distinctive for its use of highly-figured veneers.
Kafka produced built-in and freestanding furniture for a number of migrant architects, including Hugh Buhrich, Harry Seidler, Harry Epstein and Hugo Stossel. Like Kafka’s customers, they admired his work for its stylish aesthetic and fine craftsmanship, and much of his work is distinctive for its use of highly-figured veneers.
Clement Meadmore
While Clement Meadmore was best known for his massive outdoor steel sculptures, he also turned his hand to furniture design.
While Clement Meadmore was best known for his massive outdoor steel sculptures, he also turned his hand to furniture design.
Growing up in Australia, Meadmore spent most of his adult life in the US creating sculptures, many of which were on a monumental scale.
When it came to furniture design, Meadmore pursued his same interest in abstract expressionism. His DC601A chair (pictured left), produced by Michael Hirst, was originally designed for Toorak’s The Embers Nigthclub. Meadmore used fine rods of steel to transform furniture into mere outlines, trying to render the form virtually invisible.
When it came to furniture design, Meadmore pursued his same interest in abstract expressionism. His DC601A chair (pictured left), produced by Michael Hirst, was originally designed for Toorak’s The Embers Nigthclub. Meadmore used fine rods of steel to transform furniture into mere outlines, trying to render the form virtually invisible.
Douglas Snelling
Douglas Snelling – born in England, raised in New Zealand, and working in Australia – was an Australian architect and furniture designer who looked to California and abroad for inspiration.
How to renovate a mid-century classic
Douglas Snelling – born in England, raised in New Zealand, and working in Australia – was an Australian architect and furniture designer who looked to California and abroad for inspiration.
How to renovate a mid-century classic
In the late 1940s, Snelling designed Australia’s first range of mass-produced modern lounge seating, dining room and storage furniture. Tables and storage pieces often featured the fashionable splayed leg, while chairs and sofas were formed with interwoven strips that created a supportive webbing. The design of the chairs was reminiscent of those produced in earlier years by Jens Risom, Alvar Aalto and Bruno Mathsson, but without the superior Scandinavian craftsmanship.
Roger McLay
Roger McLay ran a multi-disciplinary design practice in Sydney, producing furniture, interior design and lighting, as well as graphic design and packaging in the post-war era.
McLay gained a reputation among Sydney’s small community of modernist designers when he created the Kone chair in 1948. Interior designer Marion Hall Best was one of the first customers to buy the chair, followed by Grace Bros. and Beard Watson.
This chair is formed from a single sheet of plywood, twisted and fastened into a conical shape that was then inserted into a simple black steel base. Like many post-war designers, McLay looked to military materials, which were in plentiful supply, using aircraft-grade plywood intended for the de Havilland-manufactured ‘Mosquito’ aircraft.
Roger McLay ran a multi-disciplinary design practice in Sydney, producing furniture, interior design and lighting, as well as graphic design and packaging in the post-war era.
McLay gained a reputation among Sydney’s small community of modernist designers when he created the Kone chair in 1948. Interior designer Marion Hall Best was one of the first customers to buy the chair, followed by Grace Bros. and Beard Watson.
This chair is formed from a single sheet of plywood, twisted and fastened into a conical shape that was then inserted into a simple black steel base. Like many post-war designers, McLay looked to military materials, which were in plentiful supply, using aircraft-grade plywood intended for the de Havilland-manufactured ‘Mosquito’ aircraft.
T.H. Brown
The Adelaide furniture manufacturing company T.H. Brown (short for Thomas Howard Brown) was founded in 1911 and and its classic stool is still a mainstay on on the vintage furniture market.
Designing and manufacturing timber furniture, the stool embraces the hand-crafted Scandinavian style, like so many other mid-20th century designers. It can be found in a square-leg version, or the rarer round-leg version.
The Adelaide furniture manufacturing company T.H. Brown (short for Thomas Howard Brown) was founded in 1911 and and its classic stool is still a mainstay on on the vintage furniture market.
Designing and manufacturing timber furniture, the stool embraces the hand-crafted Scandinavian style, like so many other mid-20th century designers. It can be found in a square-leg version, or the rarer round-leg version.
TELL US
Do you have a favourite 20th-century Australian designer or own their (original) furniture pieces? Upload a picture to the Comments section below.
MORE
See more beautiful homes on Houzz
Do you have a favourite 20th-century Australian designer or own their (original) furniture pieces? Upload a picture to the Comments section below.
MORE
See more beautiful homes on Houzz
Parker Furniture found its way into numerous Australian homes in the second half of the 20th century, and continues to do so today.
Tony Parker’s father started JW Parker in 1935 and recruited Tony in the mid 1940s. The budding designer studied industrial design and accounting and gained experience in a contemporary furniture department at John Lewis in London. On his return to Sydney he brought with him a newfound appreciation for streamlined, modern furniture and he persuaded his father, a traditionalist, to produce a few pieces. Grace Bros. showed an interest, as did other high-end home furnishing stores.
Tour this house