The Last Hurrah
A rare cover to a sales binder for Burke Alpha.
Between 1973 and 1981 the Burkes largely disappeared from the landscape of furniture design. Aside from continued production of existing designs by existing contractors, and Duncan’s work for Design Institute America in 1978, no new designs appeared from either Burke for almost a decade. In Maurice’s case, serious illness had forced him to retire almost completely from work in Tunbridge Wells in the UK. For Duncan, a mixture of factors had seen his career shift away from design and into sales representation for several manufacturers, including (ironically), Knoll.
In 1980, Maurice, Duncan, and younger brother Jeff would unite for another furniture venture in the shape of Burke / Alpha. Based in North York, Ontario, the company was split between Duncan in New York, and Jeff in Canada under the name Jeff Burke and Associates. The catalogue was centered on an updated Chelsea, and the new Claverdon and Oxford chairs with matching tables designed by third party contractors.
However, Burke / Alpha only attracted mild enthusiasm, and supply issues in the US in particular hastened its demise in the southern market. While Jeff saw initial success in Canada, the products failed to catch on the way many of Maurice’s earlier designs had, and ultimately the company closed in 1983. Meanwhile, Maurice had already moved into an entirely new business, founding Nature’s Best Health Products in 1981. With Duncan and Jeff joining Maurice in England after 1983, the last Burke furniture venture closed its doors for good.
Bjorgensen and Licensing
Of all the branches of Maurice’s business dealings, Bjorgensen SA would prove to be both the longest lasting, and the most obscure. Founded in Friebourg Switzerland after the move to Europe in 1963, Bjorgensen served as a management arm for the rights and contract production of Maurice’s designs. Alongside Abbeyshot’s design and technical work after the Arkana buyout, Bjorgensen would handle the initial management of Duncan’s Orbita furniture, as well as much of the business administration around the ill fated Macrima, and contract partners like Vecta, Hollen and Hanno, and finally Burke / Alpha and Pozza.
Pozza: The Final Partner
Maurice at a Pozza floor show, circa the mid 1980’s.
While Burke / Alpha marked a definitive end to Maurice’s furniture businesses, it wasn’t the end for his furniture. In 1981, alongside in house Canadian production, Maurice contracted Brazillian company Pozza to manufacture and distribute the Claverdon and Chelsea collections for international markets. Following Burke / Alpha’s closure, the remaining parts stock was also absorbed into Pozza.
The Claverdon, Chelsea, and Oxford collections found themselves much more popular abroad than they were in North America, and Pozza continued to manufacture and sell Maurice’s final designs well into the late 1980’s. Indeed, many of the existing Burke / Alpha era designs are Pozza contract products sold throughout Europe and South America in this period.
