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A unique collection of chairs amassed by Frederick Parker & Sons, later Parker Knoll Ltd, has been fully catalogued and digitised and is now available to view online at VADS: http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/search.php The chair collection demonstrates 350 years of British chair design and manufacture. They are part of the Frederick Parker Collection that also includes a collection of carvings and the Frederick Parker Company archive. Frederick Parker (born 1845) built up a substantial and high quality furniture making business. He supplied furniture for ocean liners, country houses, palaces and the high-end retail trade. Frederick Parker was convinced that the only way his workforce could produce fine, new furniture for contemporary use was by studying "the old masters". Thus he collected a library of books on furniture, 360 pieces of furniture (mostly chairs) as well as examples of carvings and textiles to inspire his designers and furniture makers. In 2002 the Frederick Parker Foundation agreed the long-term loan of the chairs, carvings and archive to London Metropolitan University. The chairs went on public exhibition within Metropolitan Works at the Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media and Design. The Collection is a valuable educational tool, providing research and source material for students and academics from a range of disciplines such as interior design, conservation and museum studies, design, furniture, social and business history. For more information about the collection, see http://www.vads.ahds.ac.uk/collections/FPC.html For up to date information on forthcoming workshops and free visits please see the online ARLIS/UK & Ireland Events Calendar 2007 at http://www.arlis.org.uk/even/