QE2 "Race" Restaurant Chair by Robert Heritage

[cunardqueen]

Checked my Daily Mail today..Dont see any mention of the Race chair
It might be a surprise to learn l do read the Daily Mail.

[Rob Lightbody]

Checked my Daily Mail today..Dont see any mention of the Race chair
It might be a surprise to learn l do read the Daily Mail.

I'm not surprised!

This was the reason I thought it was in the paper

https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20180202/283931703183060

[Peter Mugridge]

Scottish editions of the national press often have different stories than the English editions - is the Pressreader service picking it up from the English edition?

[PaulInuk]

auction is doing the catalouge now, i will let you know when its online sale is feb 25th it will be online before that date.these chairs are upholsterd in leather vendor said they came from the qe2 but we dont  have any provanounce [i cant spell]i like comingon here but i also get sad/tearfull of no qe2 anymore

I forgot this, the chairs I think, they made £160 ,

[Rob Lightbody]

It felt funny seeing "my" chair at the V&A in Dundee a couple of weeks ago.

Since I last posted here, I had my chair redone, and its now as close to perfect as I can get it.  It is in the kitchen, and every time anyone visits for the first time, I have to explain what it is (because it looks so out of place).

[Andrew Winter]

Hello to all. I thought I'd add to this thread as a new member.

My father worked at Race in the 60's. Unknowingly to myself until last year, he had an original build Heritage chair that had been in his possession in the original brown leather since that time. 

It unfortunately has a tear, but apart from that looks in sound condition. I'm going to give it a good, careful clean and decide where to go from there, but as a collector of various vintage instruments will most probably leave it totally original.

As a lover of MCM and 60's furniture, it's a wonderful looking and designed chair and this may well be either one of the earlier test models, or, possibly, a chair that didn't make QC.

I'll update here as I progress. Enjoy! 😊

[Lynda Bradford]

Welcome to the forum Andrew and thanks for posted the picture.  It is fantastic to see the chair in it's original condition after all these years. 

Looking forward to seeing more of your posts.

[June Ingram]

Welcome to The Forum, Andrew, and I will be looking forward to updates ! It is an amazing looking chair ! 

[Rob Lightbody]

Hello to all. I thought I'd add to this thread as a new member.

My father worked at Race in the 60's. Unknowingly to myself until last year, he had an original build Heritage chair that had been in his possession in the original brown leather since that time. 

It unfortunately has a tear, but apart from that looks in sound condition. I'm going to give it a good, careful clean and decide where to go from there, but as a collector of various vintage instruments will most probably leave it totally original.

As a lover of MCM and 60's furniture, it's a wonderful looking and designed chair and this may well be either one of the earlier test models, or, possibly, a chair that didn't make QC.

I'll update here as I progress. Enjoy! 😊

WELCOME and THANK YOU!  Would I be right to guess that a Google search brought you here?  If so, mission accomplished!

I am sitting on my QE2 Race chair just now - as you may have read above, I have had it reupholstered in one of the original colours of leathers that were used - dark brown - as close as I could get anyway, based on the colour photos I could find.  Mine however has been recovered multiple times on board the ship, before I finally had it recovered.  The upholsterer said it was very difficult to do, and she had to do it twice, partly due to damage caused during the previous recoverings.

My point is....  If your chair has never been "messed with" PLEASE can you take some fairly detailed photos of the various bits where the leather folds, meets and overaps?  I think mine is nearly right, but I'm never quite sure!  It could also be a great reference for future people coming here for the same reason - they can even show them to their upholster.

Do you have any other period photos of the chairs?  Fascinated to see anything!

Thank you, and welcome again.

- Rob

[Lynda Bradford]

Michael Gallagher details the years for upholstery changes in post 3. 

I have never seen photos of the Race Chairs in blue, from 1996 to 1999.  Does anyone have photos of the chairs in blue or the Princes Grill decor at this time?  It would be good to see photos.

THE GRILL ROOM / PRINCESS GRILL

1972   The Race chairs were introduced into the space of The Grill Room when this space became part of the expanded Columbia Restaurant. The chairs were upholstered in cream.

1976   The chairs were redone in burgundy red when the space became the Princess Grill.

1996   The Grill received its first significant colour change since QE2’s introduction in 1969, with blue being introduced to complement the burgundy red colour scheme; the chairs were redone in blue.

1999   The dominating colour scheme of the Grill became red again and the chairs were recovered in red.

2006   The chairs were re-upholstered in a patterned red fabric.

[Michael Gallagher]

Blue chairs in the Princess Grill. I think they looked smart!

[Lynda Bradford]

Thanks Michael, amazing to see these photos of the Princess Grill.  I was onboard QE2 in 1997 but not in the Princess Grill.  The first cruise in the Princess Grill was 2004 and by that time the chairs were recovered in red.

The first picture really shows the contrast of the blue chairs and the red carpet.