new acquisition - cox stacking chairs

 a recent acquisition, an interesting pair of Cox stacking chairs.

these were one of Cox's attempts to diversify. a hybrid of styles, the classic tubular steel frame with plywood backrest, a church chair type solid wood shaped seat pad which is thought to be out sourced and made by another company. the front section of the framework is made with box section steel rather than tubular -an interesting experiment for cox, the box section is thought to be ice-bent

above: a pair of stacking chairs.

i doubt that this was very successful, you don't find them as often as the standard cox/pel stacking chairs. it is also much heavier than other Cox designs with the solid seat and thick wall box section steel. there is a design fault in the front legs as they appear to bend out of shape with heavy use.

 Below: makers marks

both chairs are from the same source, they appear to be of the same age and have the same degree of wear however they have very different designs of makers marks.

if you were to buy these chairs from an unscrupulous dealer then you might be told that one chair is from the 1930s/40s and the other was from the 1960's - however the makers marks are rather misleading as they both date from the 1960s but it is common for both Cox/Pel to 'use-up' any old spare parts, badges, bits & bobs to finish the order, these were made in a british make-do-and-mend era.

 above: what appears to be a 30s/40s makers badge (wartime logo) ...little thought of where to place the nails.

below: what appears to be a 60's makers badge (fish logo) ...too much thought of where to place the nails