Item of play furniture, 'Chair Unit Mk.1'/'Rocker for Little Mods', designed by Adrian Haigh, 1960s

Item of play furniture, made from five interlocking plywood sheets fastened with six screws. The chair has a box-like structure, with solid sides and back. In its 'chair' orientation, the seat can be located further to the top or the bottom of the unit, depending which way up it is placed. The fronts of the chair's side pieces are rounded, so when the chair turned onto its front it becomes a rocker. When turned onto one of its sides, it can be a low table. If several are placed front to back, a 'train' can be formed by the rounded front edges fitting to the rounded back edges of the chair in front. A large printed paper sticker of an ice cream has been stuck to the front side of one of the back pieces.

Given by Adrian Haigh

This object was made for Adrian Haigh in 1967 following a design he had worked on whilst a student at Leeds College of Art. It was later used by his grandchildren, who stuck a sticker of an ice cream onto one of its chair backs. Adrian Haigh gave the object and some associated archival material to the Museum in 2017 [2017/626].

Adrian Haigh was born in Leeds, Yorkshire. From an early age his parents nurtured his creativity, and the young Adrian’s dream was ‘to escape being poor’ through his artistic talent. His mother was born blind but had a strong love of craft and making things, which she transmitted to the young Adrian. He attended Leeds College of Art in the early-1960s, specialising in furniture design and cabinet-making, at the same time he attained a teaching qualification. During his studies, he conducted research at Cross Flatts Primary School, Leeds, which strongly influenced the design of his play furniture. Haigh moved to London in 1965 to study for his Art Teaching Certificate at the University of London’s Institute of Education. He was a Youth Worker until his retirement in 2004.

The ‘Chair Unit’ Haigh had initially designed as a student was manufactured in 1967 by a wardrobe drawer-maker based in Columbia Road, Tower Hamlets. It was exhibited at The Craft Centre at Earlham Street, Covent Garden the same year. It was featured in an article in The Times newspaper, which dubbed the Chair Unit ‘The Rocker for Little Mods’, a name referencing two of the prevailing youth subcultures of the 1960s. It was retailed as a flat-pack kit by Heal’s of Tottenham Court Road, and by Schofield’s Department Store in Leeds, although few seem to have been sold. Their price in early 1968 was £6 10s for one finished with clear varnish, £6 15s for one 'gaily painted in two contrasting colours'. The Regent Hall Salvation Army, Oxford Street, purchased several units for a playgroup and several were also purchased by Leeds Education Committee. Haigh believes that only eighteen units were ever sold.

A slightly redesigned ‘Mk. 2’ version was produced for retail in 2017 at the request of a gallery owner in Manhattan, New York City. A small number were manufactured by a Rutland-based firm.

In general, play furniture tends to be designed to allow for spontaneity and variety of use. The function is to assist development of motor skills, logic, role-play, hand-eye co-ordination and creativity. The blurred boundary between item of furniture and toy encourages improvisation and ‘reinvents the adult order’.

The designer recalls that these chairs were made by a 'wardrobe drawer maker' on Columbia Road, Tower Hamlets.

The ‘Chair Unit’ was designed by Adrian Haigh when he was a student at Leeds College of Art, drawing on research he conducted in 1964 at Cross Flatts Primary School, Leeds. It was manufactured in 1967, in limited numbers, by a wardrobe drawer-maker based in Columbia Road. After exhibition at The Craft Centre in Covent Garden, some were retailed by Heal's of Tottenham Court Road, and by Schofield's Department Store in Leeds, with some also purchased by The Regent Hall Salvation Army playgroup, and the Leeds Education Committee. In total, Haigh believes only around eighteen were ever sold, possibly a result of the item's weight, price and limited marketing. However, it is an early example of British furniture designed with the assistance of children. It gained its nickname 'Rocker for Little Mods' after it was the subject of a 1968 article in the Times newspaper.

Essentially, it is a simple plywood chair made from five pieces joined with six screws. It has two orientations as a chair, with low seat and a slightly higher seat, and when turned onto its front it becomes a rocker. On its side, the chair is a low table, and when several are placed front to back, a play train could be formed.

B.72-2017