N/A Ernest Race, DA Armchair, 1946

DA Armchair by Ernest Race.

Ernest Race used a welded steel-rod as an internal frame to create an elegant and organic form for his DA series.

The innovative use of a steel-rod structure provided for sinuous and visually lightweight design, in contrast to bulkier traditional seating that relied on wooden internal frame-making. Whilst based on the shape of a classic wing chair the much more fluid outline was aesthetically progressive. The design of the DA series was in stark contrast with the bulky and heavy forms available in the mid-late 1940s.

The curvilinear shape was soon adopted by international designers and by the early 1950s the shapes originally forged by Ernest Race and Finn Juhl became more widespread and less avant-garde.

The DA1 is high-back lounge chair from a family of designs that included a sofa and low-back club chair. It would be specified with wood or aluminium legs. The aluminium version employed the same casting as that of his award-winning BA chair, utilising war-time scrap aluminium that was resmelted. This version is scarcer.

Race is best known for his iconic design for the Festival of Britain in 1951, the Antelope chair. The exposed frame is, in essence, an evolution, being a stripped-down version of his DA series of upholstered chairs and sofas.

Ernest Race practised both furniture and textile design. His understanding of materials and processes allowed for a diverse output of furniture in aluminium, steel, plywood and upholstery. Race was widely awarded for his designs during his short career and his historically important work appears in museum collections worldwide.