Ernest Race

Ernest Race (1913-1964) was an English textile and furniture designer. After World War II, he responded to the government's call for furniture to be designed from a short list of unrestricted materials, much of which was military surplus.

Race used cast aluminum and steel rods manufactured during wartime in the production of aircraft and arms. From them he created his first chair in 1946, the BA3 dining chair. This design won the Gold Medal at the Milan Triennale in 1955.

In 1948 he took the basic idea of the Victorian rocking chair and turned it into The Rocker, and in 1951 he again used a classic design and reimagined it in modern materials when he designed The Antelope for the Festival of Britain.

The Heron, designed by Race in 1955, was his answer to Eero Saarinen's Womb chair. The Heron was more angular and had skinny aluminum legs screwed on the outside of the fabric, giving it a very modern look.

Race Furniture is still in business today and specializes in auditorium seating. However, the company has reissued these four chairs.

From midcenturymagazine.com

BA3 dining chair
apresfurniture.co.uk

The Rocker
midcenturymagazine.com

The Antelope
modernroom.co.uk

The Heron
midcenturymagazine.com