Tag Archives: Fler

Mystery Solved – Fler Tub Lounge – Flerbelle

Auction Watch, , , ,

Following on from here and here, you can see I was a little stuck on finding out any more information on a Fler lounge suite I currently have in my possession. Well, that was last week! Fast forward to tonight and thanks to Dean from Melbourne  we have now solved the mystery.

Dean got in contact via the contact page and advised that he has the identical lounge suite, in the original, awesome lime green upholstery.

Retro Lounge suite - Australian
Original, Lime green Fler ‘flerbelle’ lounge suite.

Turns out that Dean’s parents brought the lounge suite new, and today it still looks just as good as it did when it came off the showroom floor. I asked how comfortable the lounge suite is, as I know for me it was possibly the most comfortable lounge chair I’ve ever sat it. He replied –

Yes, the single-seater tub chairs, when you sit sideways in them with your legs draped over 1 side, are just like sitting in a cloud!

So you may be asking now how have we identified the lounge suite? All we’ve got is an identical suite, with no real other markings or labels, right? Wrong!

Well, you see, as it turns out Dean’s parents also kept the original sales brochure! And he was good enough to send through some images of it also!

1960's/70's Fler Lounge Catalogue
Flerbelle – In all it’s original glory!
Prices for an original Fler Lounge Suite
Original Fler Catalogue with pricing!

So there we have it, Flerbelle – consisting of a single moulding of strong rigid polyurethane covered with soft foam.

How great is the original brochure – dimensions, original pricing, original showroom image! Super cool!

Again I must thank Dean J, from Melbourne for identifying my unidentified Fler lounge suite, without his time and effort to get in contact and send through the above images who knows how long I’d be searching the interwebs for! Hopefully it may help out others in the future with their quest for knowledge also.

As it turns out that Dean is moving apartments shortly, and unfortunately the Fler suite won’t fit and he will be looking to find a new home for it. So if you’re in the market for a 1 owner, original Fler Flerbelle 3 piece lounge suite in excellent condition with the original sales brochure, be sure to get in contact and I’ll pass on your details.

Mystery Fler ‘Tub’ Style Lounge Suite Update

General, , ,

Towards the end of last year, I posted about a mystery fler tub style lounge I had in storage. You can read that post here.

Often when searching for information on unknown (ish) pieces you come across it when you least expect it. This is what happened a few weeks ago when browsing through a small op shop in the southern highlands.

To my surprise I stumbled across the exact same chair from the 3 piece suite I have, in an original covering.

Original Covering - Fler Tub Lounge Chair
Original Covering – Fler Tub Lounge Chair

What’s even better is the original label was still attached, and perfectly legible, and although I didn’t have room to take it home, I made sure I got a picture of the label, which may shed some light on the design/name of the lounge chair/suite.

Fler label, from the tub style mystery lounge chair.
Fler label, from the tub style mystery lounge chair.

Now as you can see, we have ‘Airborne Europe Licence’ printed across the bottom of the maker’s label. This tells me that this particular style/design wasn’t an original Fler idea, more so they purchased the licence from an overseas company (based in Europe) to produce/sell this style of lounge chair/suite in Australia.

Now to search for more information on ‘Airborne’. A quick google search for ‘Mid Century Airborne Furniture’ brought up a few results, and not surprisingly a lot of very similar styled/design lounge suites and chairs, encompassing big bold curves with plenty of fibreglass.

Airborne appears to be a French furniture company that started during the 1950’s, however the fibreglass element looks to of been introduced during the late 1960’s – early 1970’s. A look on 1stdibs is worthwhile for interests sake, see here.

Unfortunately thus far I haven’t been able to identify the exact style of suite (still!) or possibly a designer, however as I mentioned above, when I’m least expecting it, I’m sure the next piece of the puzzle will present itself!

Mystery Fler ‘Tub Style’ Lounge Suite

General, , ,

In my last auction watch I shared an interesting single lounge chair manufactured by fler. Although the colour would not of appealed to everyone (and that’s being nice), I could relate seeing as I have the same lounge chair (apart of a 3 piece suite) currently in storage.

Retro lounge suite
Fler Lounge Suite

Now as you can see, it has been reupholstered in that hideous floral pattern fabric. It’s lines and curves however what were originally attracted my attention.

Retro fler lounge chair
Great curves!

Once I looked a little deeper (removed a cushion cover) I discovered a great, possibly original swatch of fabric which seemed to match the style of the lounge a little better.

Tub stye fler lounge chair
Great fabric design.

I’m still not 100% sure though on the material above being what the lounge would of been originally covered in, it seems a little to ‘light’, and contrasts strongly to what the eBay listed lounge chair is covered in.

I guess if I could find an old advert on the said lounge online it would help out, alot! However there within lies the problem. I have searched reasonably extensively through trove and other online sources and came up with zip, hence my excitement at finally seeing another one online.

It’s style almost reminds me of Featherstons Numero 4/7 range (which dates from the 1970’s) so could of possibly had some influence on this style of fler lounge.

Groovy Fler lounge.
Base of Fler tub style lounge chair.

The fler lounge suite appears to have a fibregass inner shell, which is covered in a high quality foam. The white plastic base covers the bottom along with providing the ‘feet’ for the lounge/chair, and to be honest those lounge chairs are possibly the most comfiest chairs I have ever sat in! I imagine it feels like what sitting on or in a cloud would. LOL.

So can you help me identify the era and model of this groovy Fler lounge suite? Love to hear from you here.

Auction Watch # 10 – Fler E31 Style Chair

Auction Watch, , ,

I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between a chair I recently came across on eBay and the Fler E31 Chair. For those not familiar below I have attached an original advert for the Fler chair along with a small colour image (sorry – couldn’t find anything larger at the time).

Fler E31 TV Chair
Fler E31 TV Chair

The interesting thing about the eBay chair is the use of materials. The original Fler chairs above date from the late 1950’s (1959 for the newspaper ad) and are manufactured from teak and use a newer design metal spring for the seat/back support.

Mid Century Chair
Auction Watch # 10

I would say that the eBay chair (pictured above & below)) is slightly older, possibly dating from the early 50’s and is manufactured from a hardwood (looks to be Victorian Ash) and is sprung  using Jute webbing and large springs for the seat support.

FLer Style TV Chair - Auction Watch # 10
FLer Style TV Chair – Auction Watch # 10

I definitely think there is a strong resemblance between the 2, however without any info on the original manufacturer of the eBay chair at this stage it may just be a coincidence…….

So, what would a restorer like this set you back? Well, currently it’s sitting at $11! And with just under 48 hours left on the auction you may just be able to pick up a bargain.

To find, just search eBay for Vintage 50s Modernist Chair Snelling Meadmore Atomic Era Project Old Retro Decor.

 

Early Fler TVS Chairs x 4

General, , ,

Been a little quiet of late – due to the fact we had snuck away for a little break over the last week or so. Whilst the holidaying was great, we did still find some time to browse a few vintage stores.

There was one in particular that had a few interesting pieces (more in the coming weeks) but tonight I thought I would share this great set of early Fler chairs. Comprising of 4 pieces in total (2 with arms/2 without) I really, really like the styling and design (more so of the 2 with arms).

Metal Rod Furniture
Early Mid Century Australia Chairs

Unfortunately for us they were priced a little out of our range, so we dragged ourselves away and carried on. However for the collector or die hard Fler enthusiast I think they represent good value.

If interested, be sure to drop me line and I’ll pass on the contact details/location (Central – North Coast NSW).