Parker Knoll Mid Century Furniture

Parker Knoll is one of the great names of British seating, and it started with an uncomfortable aeroplane. Willi Knoll, a German fighter pilot in the First World War, spent enough hours in a miserable cockpit seat to become obsessed with doing better. The tension-spring system he developed brought him to Britain looking for a manufacturer – and he found the Parkers, a family firm making fine chairs in High Wycombe since 1869.

The Parker Knoll brand launched in 1931 and changed what ordinary British sitting rooms felt like. The spring system meant real comfort without heavyweight upholstery, and the company sold it brilliantly – this was furniture people asked for by name. The pedigree was real too: the same firm furnished the Queen Mary and Broadcasting House.

For us, the sweet spot is their post-war and mid-century work – neat wingbacks, armchairs and the recliners that became their sixties signature. Solidly built frames that reupholster beautifully, which is why so many have survived. Every Parker Knoll piece we sell is checked and restored where needed, ready for another fifty years of sitting down.