1930s Queen Mary Ocean Liner Project

Inspired by a photo seen on a visit to the Warner Textile Archive, students at the Upholstery Skills Centre have brought back to life a 1930s chair from on board the Queen Mary Ocean Liner. With just a couple of old photos to work from, they have made and French polished the frame, designed the fabric, traditionally upholstered the chair and filmed the whole process.

Produced with the support of The Furniture Makers' Company, students worked on re-creating the chair with guidance from tutors on a number of days throughout the year. This has enabled the students to learn about and practice traditional upholstery techniques that were used in the 1930s. As one of the students has filmed the process, it has also provided us all with a record and educational resource.

Watch the whole process from start to finish in the seven videos below.