Warren McArthur  

I have researched extensively.
And mostly on-line, so, as you have found, information is readily available. I do not recall anything about Australia but it was some time ago. I have a recliner that i have never seen but it is often the case with Warren McArthur, to only have one of a design. He did travel being born and raised in great wealth but did use his connections and talent wisely. (he was not a slacker)
When i posted my chair here a few years ago i did not get much more than a 'meh'. It is 10-20years before what most here are interested in. Much different than actually living with his designs...spun aluminum. I've not seen anything quite like it.
Post pics of what you have found. Always nice to see.
Do search archives in the major auctions. And Architonic.
http://www.architonic.com/dcobj/warren-mcarthur/8101344/2/1

Thanks rockland. Would love...
Thanks rockland. Would love to see your recliner. I will post pics when I tidy up a little! Most furniture seems to have been made for hospitals, schools and waiting rooms, etc.
I realise it's a little early for this site - I have a love of mid-century furniture too - but that stuff is so hard to come by and so expensive here. I live in a rural area which doesn't help either.

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Hi Dave, I'm about 150km west of Brisbane but know the stuff you are referring to, its pretty common here, usually side chairs but other than that have found some pretty good pieces, where are you? If there is a regional city nearby you'd be surprised at what can turn up, I lived in Coffs Harbour for a while and that was a gold mine.

McArthur goes to Australia
Hi Dave and fellow Aussies,
I spent a couple of years doing primary research on McArthur back in the early 90's. I had the opportunity to interview a number of Warren's former employees and learned a good deal about his company and its history. I was told that McArthur made a trip to Australia in 1947 I assume that he met with Namco and setup a licensing agreement which would have ceased in December of 1948 when Warren McArthur Corp. closed. There are 2 bodies of work that I have seen from Namco, the first is the comfort lounge in its 3 permutations small, large, and chaise, a standard coffee table with bowed connectors, the South Hampton Lounge and related designs these are all American designs that I believe were given to Namco to copy with the licensing agreement, then there is a much larger group of designs that Namco's in house or an Australian design office created using the McArthur patented assembly process to produce original designs for the needs of their clients. I hope that someone in Australia will post a series of dated Namco catalogues that would document and provide a time line on production. The dating as far as I can tell is all post WW II and probably ends in the 60's thou I have no documented material to substantiate this assertion.
I look forward to seeing photos.
Nick

Thanks Nick, its all the late...
Thanks Nick, its all the later stuff I've seen, if I ever come across catalogues I'll post them.
It would be nice to see some reissues and refinements made using the connection method, its inherently good .

Great to read
about McArthur visiting Australia and the pieces that were licensed. This would make sense, and fits in with all the other pieces that look like McArthur.
I suppose it could be said that they are strictly Namco designs using his patent. I think they are quite unique! I read somewhere else someone refering to a cocktail bar and stools. That I would like to see!

Namco warren Mccarthur
I have a 3 seater and two arm chairs and a coffee table that according to my mum were built by my grandfather when he worked at Namco as a prototype but they didnt go into manufacture because they were to expensive. They are made out of gyraldium and I dont have the cushions anymore but want to get it restored. Any ideas were to get cushions made for it in Sydney

Namco
Hi Margaret,
You mention your grandfather working at Namco would you know or would your mother know what years those were?
I have been trying to establish a time line on the company as to when it started and ended any insights would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Nick

closeup on chaise joinery
Heath,
I have always associated Namco produced McArthur as having a much smaller cover cap to hid the bolt that screws everything together.
Your photo if you are positive that you are looking at a 50's/60's Namco piece and not a 30's/40's American McArthur imported piece blows this pet theory out of the water sadly.
Any labels?
Any chance it was imported?
Definitely Namco?
Thanks,
Nick

Drinking on McArthur
AusDave,
I will post some cool hotel and restaurant bar interiors. They were certainly a source of steady income.
One of the earliest factory photos I have ever seen was taken in LA 1931 where an employee is shown assembling a bar stool to illustrate the unique mechanical standardized part assembly.
This patented assembly process was a mechanical patent not a design patent that most of McArthur's competitive industrial and interior designers like Frank LLoyd Wright had.
This what Namco licensed I think around 1947 and McArthur developed while in Phoenix in 1928/29 and applied for a patent before leaving for Los Angeles in 1930.
The bars could range from private gambling clubs that Al Capone visited to some of the leading hotels and restaurants in the US at the time plus ocean liners that ran from NY to South America and Los Angeles to Hawaii.

Warren McArthur
The Australian Home beautiful Magazine of March 1947 has the Namco lounge chair and chaise lounge in it.
I have two arm chairs and a three seater settee from Namco C1947.