The Robinson Way

 Here at Robinson of England we like doing things the way they should be. When we see beautiful antique pieces over 100 years old which still have years of life to give, we know they have been crafted with love, attention and importantly, crafted to a very high standard. 

This is where the concept of the Robinson crafting of pieces come from. We craft all our pieces in a traditional way, which few crafting houses still continue, however we intend to continue this! 

Every piece we craft we want to create legacy pieces which one day will be passed down and used for hundreds of years. This is why we have different crafting manners in which we make our pieces yet all based off the same principles.

 

 

 

Our Frames 

The frame is the foundation for crafting any piece, Take this armchair frame which also focuses on longevity.

At the Original sofa company this is a concept which encapsulates all our pieces. Our frames are hand made from solid beechwood then either doweled and screwed for an ever lasting piece or in our manner 1 pieces we opt for traditional mortice and tenon joins.

This way we can guarantee the longevity of our pieces!

 

Our Springs

Along with hardwood frames we do things very differently when it come to the comfort of our pieces. All our Manner 1, 2 and 3 pieces are loose coil sprung. This is a traditional manner of upholstery which due to the skill and time involved few continue.

All our loose coil springs are hand placed and tied to assure each piece is not only beautiful but exceptionally comfortable. Unlike other spring types and webbing, our loose Coils springs rarely need replacing, This is why antique pieces found today are still so comfortable to use even after over 100 years!

 

Upholstery

We upholster our pieces in different manners to accommodate to taste and budget, we also offer this so each client knows the value of their piece and how it was crafted!

Our Manner 1 pieces are crafted in the upmost traditional way, in keeping with the classic chesterfield sofa style. We upholster using horse hair and ginger fibre just as antique pieces were crafted over 100 years ago. Natural fibres really are the secret to traditional upholstery. Horse hair is actually a hollow fibre, this means over years of use the air actively passes through it which not only slows the wear of the fibres but also of the leather!

Our Manner 1 pieces are also fully had tacked, we opt for this as traditionally before the staple was invented all upholstery was tacked. However, since staples are mild steel they corrode where as tacks will not! This great yet more longevity for the piece! These pieces are also wool lined in place of cotton in our other manners, this makes our manner 1 pieces truly luxury comfort.

 

Our Manner 2 crafting method is much like our Manner 1 however we use rubberised boars bristle and horse hair in place of ginger fibre, again this being a natural fibre, it has a great life expectancy along with the superb horse hair. Again sprung through the full piece our manner 2 pieces are beautiful pieces in any style.

We also have our Manner 3 pieces. Crafted from the exact same frame as both other manner we adopt a more modern approach to crafting materials while retaining all the traditional skills we hold ourselves too. Our manner 3 pieces have a loose coil sprung seat and are upholstered in layers of wonderful high quality foams. We take a great deal of care with selecting our foams to make sure the comfort is just right!

Finishes

 After all the crafting of the piece itself internally is done we then move to making the piece look stunning and finished. We range from everything to our renowned hand dyed leathers to pre-dyed leathers and fabrics also! When it come to leather we like to think our hand dyed pieces are second to none! We upholster just as done hundreds of years ago in a raw russet leather, the leather we use is in the top 1% of upholstery leather and has had minimal processing.

This means the leather is thick and strong but also retains its natural beauty. We mix our own dyed to perfection then dye the piece by hand, making sure each pleat, button and fold it perfect. This give the leather its wonderful patina and depth of tones.

 

 After the piece is dyed we then move to the details, Such as the classic chesterfield studding. Now this is what really finishes a piece, each stud is tapped in one by one by hand and hammer to make sure each is perfect. From subtle to stand out, studding finishes the piece off lovely, then with the addition of our signature hand turned beechwood and walnut legs. Each piece is given its final wonderful french polish to give its wonderful glow ready to be in situ.

Crafting each piece from beginning to end is undertaken by one of our artisan upholsterers who solely crafts the piece. Crafting can take anywhere upward of 100 hours with each part of crafting being mastered by our expert upholsters. 

We feel that by crafting in this way not only will the piece last and look beautiful but due to our different options it gives our customer the change to decide what is most important to them. If it be standing out or blending in we are confident we can craft the perfect piece!