The Star Collection
Maurice’s first, and single most prolific design: the Star Collection remains the most widely known of the Burke Inc. era products.This gallery features images of Star collections from the very first Burke Inc. iterations, to the collection under Arkana, as well as original sales catalogues from the Burke Brunswick division.
The Star is most often remembered as the high-backed version with armrests, all made in a single curving piece that tapers onto the forking, four pointed base. However, multiple seat variants were offered; including a dining style high backed variant with no armrests, and a more bucket-styled low back version often paired with conference tables in advertising.
Along with a variety of material and finish options, the Star was the work-horse of Maurice’s designs: versatile enough for any occasion and use, and built tough with a reinforced central return spring system that ensured they would stand up to years of use.
Star Chairs also featured in advertisements for other Vecta products, such as this flyer for Gunter Eberle's DeDoes tables
The Big Question: The Star and Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
In 1956, Finnish born American designer Eero Saarinen unveiled his famous Tulip chair. It was a brilliant design, praised for its futuristic materials, ergonomics, and overall beautiful design. To this day, it’s widely considered one of the finest examples of early modern furniture.
In 1959, Canadian born ‘American’ designer Maurice Burke unveiled… Eero Saarinen’s Tulip chair?
The similarities in design were too much to ignore: the curved edges, single stem pedestal base, and contrasting cushion on space-age body. To this day the question lingers: “How did Maurice Burke get away with such an obvious ripoff?”
The short answer is: he didn’t.
Despite some differences in overall seat shape, the first run of the Star featured a rounded base that only intensified the comparisons with Knoll’s Tulip, and in the same year Saarinen’s manufacturer took the nascent Burke Inc. and Maurice to court over alleged infringement. Their case focused mainly on the stem and rounded base, arguing it was as symbolic of Knoll’s brand as Coca Cola’s bottle was to theirs.
In response, Maurice presented overwhelming evidence (purchased from local furniture stores in Dallas), that the stem base both preceded and proliferated beyond the Tulip more than sufficiently to undermine that claim.
Furthermore, Maurice’s chair’s internal design differed significantly from that of the Tulip. Whereas the Tulip seat was mounted on a free-floating ball bearing that allowed full rotation, the Burke design used a fixed point return spring that spun the chair back to ‘the front.’
At this point, the two parties came to the table and successfully negotiated a settlement. For Maurice, this meant that he could no longer manufacture chairs with a rounded stem base in the style of Knoll’s Tulip. Thus the ‘star’ of the Burke Inc. Star Collection was devised as a compromise. In the end, it became the most distinguishing feature of many of Maurice’s designs from Burke Inc, and well into the Arkana years.
So is the Star a Saarinen Rip Off?
Yes and No.
It’s undeniable that Maurice was visually “inspired” by Saarinen; just looking at the two designs there’s no denying that the seats are nearly identical, even in later iterations from Arkana and Vecta.
However, its also undeniable that the internal design of the Star was significantly different than -and arguably superior to- the Knoll made Tulips. And being forced to adopt a different style of base did ensure Maurice’s chairs were immediately recognizable compared to Knoll’s Saarinen Tulip. Whether its enough in the court of public opinion is ultimately up to the individual.
Thus while comparisons to the Tulip are inevitable (and indeed warranted), we hope that clarifying the Star’s history will help people appreciate the design and product on it’s own terms - whatever their final verdict may be.
-Declan Burke
Lundquist and Bjorgensen Collections
Along with the Star, Burke Inc. produced several variant collections, aimed at different markets and price ranges. Two of these would prove their metal and continue to be produced by Burke Inc. and its successors well into the 1970’s.
The Lundquist serves as a more hard-wearing, utilitarian version of the Star aimed at businesses and public venue uses. Maintaining the overall shape and profile of the Star, but with a stem and base made up of four separate aluminum legs bent into position to mount either feet or wheels. The Lundquist was easily the most prolific and versatile of Maurice’s early designs.
For the budget market, the Bjorgensen combined the strong single piece seats of the Star collection with steel tube legs, keeping them light, portable, and easily stackable for venue use. Despite its no-frills simplicity, the most modest of Maurice’s designs proved itself a valuable piece alongside its more flashy brothers.
Estaban and Mckenzie Collections
While the premiere Star, versatile Lundquist, and practical Bjorgensen dominated Burke production, a couple of additional variants also shared the early limelight.
The Estaban Collection was originally made out of rejected Star seats, cut in half and reinforced with a carry handle in the back of the split seat. Despite these humble origins, the Estaban stands out visually as the most intriguing of Maurice’s original chair designs, and its rarity only helps compound its mysterious aura.
In contrast, the Mckenzie was essentially a ‘deluxe’ version of the Lundquist, featuring a thicker pedestal neck wrapped in natural wood. It appears most frequently behind desks and in professional settings as an executive office chair.
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