Mid Century Ercol Windsor Elm Sideboard

Born Luciano Randolfo Ercolani in Sant’Angelo in Vado, Italy, on 8 May 1888, Lucian Ercolani moved to London with his family in 1898. After studying drawing and furniture construction at Shoreditch Technical Institute, he made his first piece – a mother of pearl inlaid musical cabinet – in 1907, which the company still holds today. His career progressed through the Salvation Army joinery department and Frederick Parker’s workshops before he founded Furniture Industries in 1920, later renamed Ercol. A crucial wartime government contract for 100,000 Windsor chairs in 1944 established the company’s reputation, while Ercolani’s innovative kiln design solved elm’s tendency to warp, making it viable for mass production.

Ercolani’s designs, including the Windsor Collection (1947), Butterfly Chair (1958), and Stacking Chair (1957), defined British furniture in the post-war period. At its peak, the factory employed 800 workers and produced 2,000 pieces daily, with Windsor Kitchen Chairs alone selling 3,000 units weekly. His design philosophy – “design for comfort; design for function; design for beauty” – guided every piece. A founder member of the Furniture Makers Guild and its Master in 1957-58, Ercolani received an OBE in 1964. He published his memoir “A Furniture Maker” in 1975 and died the following year, having built one of Britain’s most significant furniture manufacturing companies.