Chelsea Collections

One of the earliest designs added to Maurice’s catalogue at Arkana, the Chelsea Campaign Style Chair was directly based on earlier camp chairs used by the Dutch Army. Combining leather and wood with easy assembly and structural reinforcement by hex-screw secured metal bars, the Chelsea was meant to evoke a rural atmosphere while remaining completely at home in a modern urban setting.

Along with the Mushroom, and beaten only by the Star, the Chelsea would be one of Maurice’s most long-lived designs, produced for over two decades at multiple companies in several variants that utilized the designs simplicity and modularity for everything from office to public to home usage.

Claverdon and Oxford Collections

Similar to the Mushroom and the unproduced M1/M2 designs for Macrima, the Claverdon and Oxford ranges represent an evolution of the basic idea of the Chelsea, though more as a fork in the family tree than as successors. Never eclipsing their forebearer, nor ultimately being as widely produced, the Claverdon and Oxfords were among Maurices last produced designs before his retirement from furniture design.

The Claverdon is a more ‘Bauhaus’ take on the basic lounger, combining shaped steel tubing with a single piece cushioned seat that freely hangs so as to conform better to the sitter. Unlike the Chelsea or the Oxford however, its ‘armrests’ sat significantly lower, and were arguably less armrest and more part of the seat’s overall structure. Conversely, the Oxford more directly mirrored the Chelsea’s overall shape; replacing the leather sling armrests with a single, all-wooden frame that provided greater overall strength while remaining light and portable.

Explore More of the Burke’s Designs