Ernest Race Furniture
British, 1913-1964
Ernest Race was a British textile artist and furniture designer, born in 1913, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. After graduating with a degree in interior design from London’s Bartlett School of Architecture, he joined the lighting firm, Troughton & Young, as a draughtsman. He was a key figure in the British furniture design industry in the 1900s, with his skill involving the use of ingenious manufacturing processes to create contemporary furniture from improvised or recycled materials.
After visiting a weaving village in India in 1937, Ernest returned to London and opened a shop in Knightsbridge, to sell textiles and carpets. He did not start designing furniture until just after World War II, when he answered an advertisement from engineer, J.W. Noel Jordan. His best-known designs are the BA3 aluminium chair of 1945 and the Antelope, designed for the “Festival of Britain” in 1951.
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Creator: Ernest Race
Rare Ernest Race 'Neptune' lounge chair. c1953 England
By Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
An early Ernest Race 'Neptune' chair.
Beech plywood with the early brass fittings and webbing.
Folds to an incredible 12cm
Structurally sound with a lovely patina
Category
1950s English Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Beech, Plywood
Original 1950s Heron Chair by Ernest Race Midcentury Modern chair
By Ernest Race
Located in Stow on the Wold, GB
A beautiful example of an original Ernest Race Heron Chair circa 1955. Designed by Ernest Race and Manufactured by Race Furniture.
Owned by one famil...
Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Steel
EARLY ERNEST RACE DA Sofa, 1949, Classic British Design
By Ernest Race
Located in Sherborne, GB
A Classic piece of British design, this early DA sofa designed by Ernest Race has a welded steel frame with coil sprung seats and beech legs. Recently r...
Category
1940s British Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Steel
Vintage Ernest Race Heron Armchair and Footstool in White Bouclé, Britain, 1950s
By Race Furniture, Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
A completely reupholstered Heron chair by Ernest Race from the 1950s, along with original footstool. An impressive and ergonomic design, the Heron armchair...
Category
1950s British Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Steel
Cast Aluminum and Vinyl "BA3" Chairs by Ernest Race for Race Furniture
By Ernest Race
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pair of English, Mid-Century Modern, cast aluminum "BA3" side chairs designed by Ernest Race for Race Furniture feature upholstered seats and backs in perforated putty gray vinyl.
Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Aluminum
Set Of Four Mid Century Ernest Race Antelope Chairs
By Ernest Race
Located in Norwich, GB
Set of four mid century Antelope chairs designed by Ernest Race. Each labelled: Race Made in England. Circa late 1950's.
Originally designed for the Festival of Britain 1951 as an interior and al fresco chair...
Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Steel
Ernest Race Rocking Chair, 1940s, England
By Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
Designed by Ernest Race in 1948. A very rare low volume original, it has become a highly recognised design classic.
Constructed from bent steel rod, the chair is very comfortable. ...
Category
1940s British Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Steel
'Cormorant' Folding Chair By Ernest Race
By Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
'Cormorant' Folding Chair By Ernest Race
The cormorant folding chair is a timeless masterpiece designed by the renowned Ernest Race. This exquisite piece, crafted by Ernest Race L...
Category
Mid-20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Mahogany, Teak
Round Coffee Table, Rare Ernest Race Design, 1940s
By Ernest Race, Race Furniture
Located in London, GB
Ernest Race Coffee Table Designed by Ernest Race in the 1940s Cast aluminium legs Walnut veneer table top with aluminium banding.
Category
1940s British Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Aluminum
Unique 1950s Springbok Garden Table and Chairs Set by Ernest Race
By Race Furniture, Ernest Race
Located in Shepperton, Surrey
A unique 1950s table with four accompanying "Springbok" chairs by Ernest Race for Race Furniture.
Made for the 1951 Festival of Britain, the chairs are of original vintage. The chairs bear remnants of the Race Furniture label. The bespoke Springbok table was made by Ernest Race in the 50s to accompany the chairs and is as rare as it gets.
This set is documented in the Antique Trade Gazette:
Ernest Race, who died at the early age of 51 in 1964, established his eponymous company in 1945 and is best known for his 'Antelope' and 'Springbok' chairs that were unveiled at the Festival of Britain and used steel rod frames with plywood and spring seats. Pictured here is a set of four 'Springbok' chairs as shown at the festival accompanied by a unique custom-made table. Both use Race’s characteristic steel rod frames and ball feet.
The set has had some conservation work, including the addition of transparent tubing to protect areas where the plastic webbing has split. It remains in very useful condition and would make the ultimate MCM garden...
Category
Mid-20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Steel
Ernest Race, Vintage DA Armchair, 1940's, in Black Velvet
By Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
Vintage 'DA 1' armchair by Ernest Race for Race Furniture, Circa 1946. - England.
Rare 1st production, with aluminium legs & coil spring seat newly upholstered in black velvet.
...
Category
Mid-20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Velvet
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Previously Available Items
Penguin Donkey Mk 2 by Ernest Race for Isokon
By Ernest Race, Isokon
Located in Little Burstead, Essex
A completely original untouched Isokon Donkey (small bookshelf) by Ernest Race, not restored, structurally very sound, some small blemishes to the paint ...
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Bottleship, designed by Ernest Race for Isokon London, circa 1963, in cherry ply
By Isokon, Ernest Race
Located in Wargrave, Berkshire
This iconic 1960s mini bar / bookcase / side table was designed by Ernest Race in 1963 at the invitation of Isokon's founder Jack Pritchard to redesign the original bottleship by Egon Riss...
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Cherry, Plywood
H 16.93 in W 21.66 in D 16.93 in
Race Furniture Ernest Race Curlew Three Seater Sofa Mid Century Vintage Retro
By Race Furniture, Ernest Race
Located in Cambridge, GB
New Stock ✅
Race Furniture Ernest Race Curlew Three Seater Sofa Mid Century Vintage Retro MCM
The name of this particular sofa is ‘Curlew’ and dates from 1962.
They were the last range Race designed before he left the eponymous company in September of 1962 to become a freelance designer, and were made at the new factory at Sheppey.
Blonde ash legs with an aluminium constructed frame and original rubber webbing on the underside of the seat. The seats have been newly reupholstered in black wool.
Ernest Race (1913 - 1964) was a key figure in early twentieth-century British design. He was born in Newcastle and studied interior design at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London. He first worked as a designer for London lighting manufacturer, Troughton & Young before establishing his own company, Race Fabrics, to produce and sell his textile designs.
After the war, Race founded Ernest Race Ltd (subsequently renamed Race Furniture) to manufacture his own furniture designs. The company was to produce some of the most iconic designs of the post-war era, including the BA3 and the Antelope chairs...
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1960s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
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Aluminum, Other
H 24.02 in W 67.72 in D 30.32 in
Hunting Aviation Metal Desk Ernest Race
By Ernest Race
Located in New York, NY
Ernest Race designed Metal Desk for P.W. Cow / Hunting Aviation, United Kingdom 1946. A wonderful piece of British Design History Desk by Ernest Race. The aluminum metal has a pattern to its surface as aircraft panels...
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Pair of model DA2 armchairs by Ernest Race. English 1949.
By Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
A very good pair of model DA2 armchairs by Ernest Race. English 1949.
Carefully reupholstered in an authentic blue boucle to keep the original line and retaining the makers label.
Di...
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Ernest Race, Isokon Donkey Mk 2, 1963, mid-century classic shelf unit / display
By Ernest Race, Isokon
Located in London, GB
Ernest Race, UK.
Isokon Donkey Mark 2
Designed 1963 for the Isokon Furniture Company.
Cream-white painted plywood with wooden legs.
L 53 cm, W 41 cm,...
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1960s British Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Wood
H 15.75 in W 16.15 in D 20.87 in
Festival Of Britain Pair of ‘Antelope’ Chairs by Ernest Race
By Ernest Race
Located in Petworth, GB
Festival of Britain ‘Antelope’ pair of chairs designed by Ernest Race and made by Ernest Race Ltd. Designed for the Festival of Britain 1951 as inside and outside chairs for restaura...
Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
Materials
Brass, Steel
Vintage Mid Century Ernest Race Heron Chair, Original Wool Upholstery
By Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
A completely original vintage Heron chair by Ernest Race from the 1950s. An impressive and ergonomic design, the Heron armchair utilised Race’s innovative ...
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Mid-20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Ernest Race Furniture
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Steel
H 32.68 in W 32.29 in D 37.01 in
Ernest Race Furniture Desk Chair, from the Sheppey Range, 1960s
By Race Furniture, Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
A very unusual chair, marked on the underside with a paper Race Furniture label.
Constructed from box section steel, this is a reception chair from...
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Pair of Ernest Race Flamingo Lounge Chairs and Ottoman
By Race Furniture, Ernest Race
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This rare set of 'Flamingo' lounge chairs was designed in 1959 by the English designer, Ernest Race. The same year the chair was introduced, it was granted the 'design of the year aw...
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1950s English Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
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Steel
Ernest Race, Penguin Donkey Bookcase by for Isokon
By Ernest Race
Located in London, GB
Mid 20th Century Penguin Donkey Mark II side table was designed in 1963 by Ernest Race
The piece serves as a multi-functional unit with bookshe...
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Rare and Unique Example of the 1953 Ernest Race Neptune Lounger
By Ernest Race
Located in Highclere, Newbury
Originally commissioned in 1953 by the cruise liner company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) for their oriental routes this is a very early and unique example of Ernest Race’s Neptune lounger.
The chair was originally developed by Peter Kidman of Aylesbury Bros and it’s known that a number of prototypes were made before production began to test various plywood types and fittings. In addition, some are found with a handle hole in the footrest and some not; this likely because the hole proved to be a weak spot in the design regarding production and weathering. Prototypes were believed to have been made in a variety of laminates but production initially began in beech laminate which was later replaced by Gaboon Mahogany as it proved more durable. Early production models also featured brass fittings which were later found to seize up and were later replaced by nylon capped hardware. The chair cleverly used the same plywood manufacturing mould for the seat and the back which kept production costs at a reasonable level for such a bespoke design but this is why the chair could not be hinged to fold flat – you will see when you look at the design that the foot and back rests could not sit inside each other to fold unless they were offset (the foot rest needs to sit lower than the back rest for the curves to fit). On this basis an ingenious system of canvas straps were utilized that allowed the chair to fold inside itself (it folds to just 12cm deep) and were also used as carrying straps in transit.
The straps, however, had additional benefits in that the ones you see at arm level provide a comfortable place to rest one’s elbows when reading a book! But predominantly they were used to tension the frame so that when set up in the lounging position they force the foot rest back into the locating brackets at the base of the back rest. And that detail is one of the things that make this particular example very interesting because when you look at the base of the back rest you will see two half-moon shaped brass insets. I’ve never seen these before on any version of this chair and far from being just decorative they do have a practical use. You can’t see it on the photos but where they sit is directly over the locating brackets and on most versions it is possible for the foot rest to disengage from the back rests as there is no lipped edge to stop this. This however, is not a problem in use but in unfolding the chair for use as without these it’s quite a struggle to open the chair out into its seating position and lock the two sections in place.
Another unusual aspect of this particular example is that it is furnished with a brass rod that acts as a retainer for the head rest at the top of the seat cushion as every other example just has a simple wooden toggle. The seat cushion has clearly long since perished and it has been replaced with a cream vinyl pad and footrest at some point in its no doubt colorful life. Early models had an integrated back and seat cushion and this was later replaced by a full length version so again we have an unusual detail as this cushion set is different in that it has the original design but with an added foot rest. On this basis it has all the comfort of a full length pad but it also adds an aesthetic feature in being able to see the contrast of the wood between each pad, which to my mind is more appealing.
The frame is in very good vintage condition with patina and knocks here and there just as you would expect from a chair that is nearly 70 years old. But it’s the right kind of patina that enhances the appeal of its history rather than detracts and stands out to the eye. It is unique as the added details sets it apart from any other Neptune chair...
Category
1950s British Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ernest Race Furniture
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Plywood
Ernest Race furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Ernest Race furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Ernest Race furniture, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Ernest Race were created in the mid-century modern style in united kingdom during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Omersa, Hille, and Arkana Furniture. Prices for Ernest Race furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $956 and can go as high as $12,741, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $3,474.