Serota, B. & Sons; Serota & Cohen (1905-1995)
Serota, B. & Sons; Serota & Cohen
London; furniture makers (fl.1905-95)
Barnett Serota came to London from Zhitomir, Russia, in 1905 and was employed as a furniture maker by Morris Cohen. In 1911 he formed a partnership with Nathan Cohen as Serota & Cohen in Luke Street, off Curtain Road, making quality oak reproduction dining furniture and walnut and mahogany occasional furniture, later expanding into bedroom suites. They apparently supplied retail shops, particularly in the North of England and Scotland. The partnership was dissolved in 1924, when Serota’s son, Louis, joined his father in a newly built factory in Downham Road, off Kingsland Road. A younger son, Morris, joined the firm in 1939 but was soon called up for service. From 1942-48 Utility dining tables and sideboards were produced, the highly skilled workforce adapted to semi-mass production and payment by piece work, and thus the firm survived. By the 1950s the firm had reverted to their high quality work and although their prices became prohibitive, they specialised in pieces for university institutions (including the library for the University of London’s Institute of Education) and British embassies abroad. Production ceased in 1995.
Source: Massil, Immigrant Furniture Workers in London 1881-1939 (1997).