Picturing Canterbury: Quintessential Furniture Co.

Quintessential Furniture Co. Christchurch Star Archive. In copyright. CCL-StarP-02761A.

Merv Quinlivan of Quintessential Furniture Co. with a Viking axe replica. 10 November 1977.

Quintessential Furniture Co. was founded by Merv Quinlivan and Chris Mitchell in 1977. Although the company focused on producing furniture, it also crafted ornaments, including replica medieval weapons. The company was dissolved in 1982.

Do you have any photographs of Quintessential Furniture? If so, feel free to contribute to our collection.

The Discovery Wall is a large interactive exhibition which allows several people to simultaneously explore images and stories of the history of the people and places of Christchurch. It is viewable on the ground floor of Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square, Christchurch, New Zealand or on the Mobile Discovery Wall. Images displayed on the Wall can also be found on the Discovery Wall website.

More information

Local and family history classes

  • Learn how to research your own family history with our six-week course starting on Sunday 4 August - Introduction to Family History
  • Learn more about Christchurch and local history resources with our six-week course starting on Thursday 1 August - Introduction to Local History
  • Make an iMovie with your family or local history story with our six-week course starting on Friday 2 August - Capture Your Story