Douglas Snelling Low Chair and Stool
One of the student projects from our first Douglas Snelling Low Chair and Stool workshop. Existing examples of the original share a similar colour webbing.
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We recently held our inaugural Douglas Snelling Chair and Stool making workshop and we couldn’t be happier with the results. Over three days, students constructed and upholstered their own chair and stool.
The Snelling Line was one of the first successfully mass produced furniture lines in Australia and was sold through major department stores from the late 1940s to the mid 1950s. The low chair and stool are among the most recognisable pieces from the range and are fine examples of furniture from that period. While the chair bears Snelling’s name, the design is heavily influenced (to the point of outright copying) by Danish American designer Jens Risom and bears a striking resemblance to Risom’s lounge chair.
The chairs were produced by Functional Products, a business co owned by Snelling, in their factory in St Peters, just one suburb over from our workshop in Marrickville. For us, this made it a particularly fitting course to run. Not only are the chairs beautiful and comfortable, but the project also feels like an homage to the area’s history as Sydney’s industrial heartland. While the suburb continues to change, with microbreweries and coffee roasters replacing much of the manufacturing, there are still makers around and perhaps more appetite than ever for people to try their hand at a new craft (the practice, not the ale).
We made several changes to the original design. A bridle joint replaces the mitre with floating tenon, dominoes replace dowels, and notches are routed to receive the legs instead of using simple lap joints. These changes help us deliver the course efficiently while also adding strength and longevity to the chair. As always, the chairs were made using timber we’ve rescued from landfill, and sevrve as great examples of what’s possible with reclaimed material. I particularly love the juxtaposition of the featured, reclaimed timber against the clean colour of the webbing.
This course was a real collaborative effort and took a huge amount of work to bring to life. Seeing the finished chairs come together made it all worthwhile, and we are excited about what project we might tackle next.
