Herman Miller� Replacement Casters Reduces Scratches, Nicks, Scrapes, Gouges Antimicrobial, Cleanroom, Conductive, Decorative, Electronic, Plate, Polymer, Stainless Steel & Stem Self Stick on WheelsIn 1957 VITRA started production of the Lounge Chair with license of Herman Miller. The Lounge Chair over all was the same, but the base is different to that used in US. The picture shows the difference to identify, if your Lounge Chair is a Herman Miller US production, or a Vitra European production. You just need to compare the base. Please note: Early Vitra production Lounge Chair may also have a Herman Miller label, but if it has the Vitra base it is Vitra production! In 1970 licenses to manufacture where given to NK in Sweden, ICF in Italy, Hille International in the UK and Mobilier International in France. All have the European Vitra base. You like vintage design? to close message click here- Photo Courtesy of Wright The most valuable Eames pieces date from the first decade of production: 1946-1956.
But pieces from the later ’50s to the early ’60s can have collectible value, too. The good news is “a lot of the work is signed,” Wright says. About 70% of the pieces had paper decals, so the first thing to look for on the underside of a chair or table, or the inside a cabinet drawer, is a sticker (or the remnants of one). “Not being marked doesn’t mean something’s a fake,” Wright cautions – labeling was a little...- Photo Courtesy Wright The paper stickers varied, depending on the year and article of furniture. But they were usually colored red, cream or black (or a combination). They usually say “Charles Eames” or “Designed by Charles Eames.” They bear in the name of the manufacturer: Herman Miller Furniture Company, with its logo – it looks like a pair of stylized antlers, or a two-pronged crown. Underneath is written Zeeland, Michigan or Venice, California, the locales of the company’s factories. (Be wary if you see anything... Eames Label on Fiberglass Chair.
Objects made with molded fiberglass, like the famous bucket and shell chairs mid-century furniture collectors clamor to own, often have decals bearing the name “Zenith Plastics” still intact. Another name to watch for: Tigrette, which made the Eames line of toys. Label on Wooden Eames Chair. On wooden chairs, tables and recliners, the sticker often includes the name “Evans” – the Evans Product Company manufactured the plywood the Eames used so artfully. This shouldn't be confused with mid-century designer Paul Evans. The underside of a piece may also have three letters stamped, impressed or hand-written on it – something like LCW, DAX, DCM. These are the model names. Eames pieces were named military-fashion, Wright notes, with three-letter abbreviations. “LCW” stands for “Low... Eames Chair with Wear Patina. Do ask if a piece has its original finish. In keeping with their mantra of functional furniture, the Eames weren’t into fancy finishes; so a piece should have a soft patina, further augmented by the passage of decades.
The earliest furniture was in muted colors; bright saturated hues came in later. But whatever the color, “a real warning sign is if a piece is too band-box fresh, too gleaming,” says Wright. “It should look a little worn, show its age – that’s desirable.” Looking old is one thing, but – as with any antique or collectible – condition does matter. And the more original that condition, the better. Even such details as whether the screws on a piece have ever been loosened can affect a piece’s value. (“Some Eames collectors do get into minutiae,” Wright allows.) Some repair-oriented changes – such as a new rubber feet tips or shock mounts to replace dried-out or cracked ones – don’t matter that much. Still, perfection commands a price. Eames Upholstered Chair, 1950. Because they were mass-produced, there are a lot of examples of Eames furniture out there – so, many items are not extremely expensive (at least, by antique furniture standards). But some models were less common than others.
So, in terms of pricing, “it does become about rarities,” Wright says. At his auction, the chair pictured left fetched $2,000 – while a pair of similar ones, the same model from the same year with the same sticker and in basically the same condition, collectively brought... Eames Billy Wilder Chaise, 1968. The Eames designed furniture for both offices and homes. If you’re acquiring mainly for investment value, focus on the latter. “The office furniture is generally worth less, has less collector cachet,” Wright notes. That’s partly due to popularity – “most of their greatest hits were designed for the home” – and scarcity: Herman Miller began phasing out the residential furniture line in 1965, but continued making the business line. In 1994, the company launched the Herman Miller for the Home... Eames Storage Unit Product Catalog. As with any area of collectibles – if you’re serious, study the field and educate yourself. Many museums feature Eames pieces.
There’s no shortage of literature about the duo; Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames by Marilyn & John Neuhart and Ray Eames (Harry N. Abrams, 1989) is “definitely the Bible,” Wright says. , run by Charles’ grandson, is also a valuable resource and currently working on a catalogue raisonné of the Eames canon....Sorry, the page you requested could not be found. For more information, please contact the owner of the website you are trying to reach. Loan Procedures for Institutions Recognizing the need, Charles Eames said, is the primary condition for design. Early in their careers together, Charles and Ray identified the need for affordable, yet high-quality furniture for the average consumer—furniture that could serve a variety of uses. For forty years the Eameses experimented with ways to meet this challenge, designing flexibility into their compact storage units and collapsible sofas for the home; seating for stadiums, airports, and schools;
and chairs for virtually anywhere. Their chairs were designed for Herman Miller in four materials—molded plywood, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, bent and welded wire mesh, and cast aluminum. The conceptual backbone of this diverse work was the search for seat and back forms that comfortably support the human body, using three dimensionally shaped surfaces or flexible materials instead of cushioned upholstery. An ethos of functionalism informed all of their furniture designs. “What works is better than what looks good,” Ray said. “The looks good can change, but what works, works.” Charles with a Christmas Tree. Made of Molded-plywood Chair Legs, circa 1946, photograph. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (F-7) The Eameses' molded-plywood chair was their first attempt to create a single shell that would be comfortable without padding and could be quickly mass-produced. Throughout the early 1940s, the Eameses and their colleagues experimented with this concept.
Discovering that plywood did not withstand the stresses produced at the intersection of the chair's seat and back, they abandoned the single-shell idea in favor of a two-piece chair with separate molded-plywood panels for the back and seat. The chairs—plus molded-plywood tables and wall screens—were unveiled to the public in 1946. Variations of these designs are still in production. This device used molds and weights to stamp metal chair shells. The expensive metal-stamped chair was replaced by a low -cost fiberglass reinforced plastic chair. Staff Member Don Albinson. Operating the Drop-hammer Mold, 1948. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (F-19) La Chaise was created for the 1948 “International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design.” The name “La Chaise” was both a reference to sculptor Gaston Lachaise and a pun on his name. Vitra AG has produced the chair since 1990. La Chaise, designed 1948, contemporary production, fiberglass-reinforced plastic, metal, and wood.
Courtesy of Vitra Design Museum (F-24) The Eameses' 1946 molded-plywood chair of developed from the chairs Charles and Saarinen entered in The Museum of Modern Art's 1940 “Organic Design” competition in which they took first place. Chair Designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen for the “Organic Design in Home Furnishings” Competition, designed 1940, molded plywood, wood, foam rubber, and fabric. Courtesy of Vitra Design Museum (F-02) Plywood tends to splinter when bent into acute angles. To solve this problem, the Eameses and their colleagues cut slits and holes into these experimental chair shells. Chair Shell Experiments, designed 1941-45, molded plywood, metal, and rubber. Courtesy of Vitra Design Museum (F-8 a-e) This photocollage was displayed in the 1946 exhibition New Furniture Designed by Charles Eames at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photocollage by Herbert Matter, photographic reproduction, detail. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (F-49)
In 1943 the Plyformed Wood Company became the Molded Plywood Division of the Evans Products Company, whose activities were later taken over by Herman Miller. Label Designed by Ray for World War II. Molded-Plywood Leg Splints, paper. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (F-76) The Eames Office fabricated two versions of the minimum chair: one with a seat and back of sheet metal and another using metal mesh. Experimental “Minimum Chair,&rldquo; 1948, painted metal mesh and rod. Courtesy of Vitra Design Museum (F-80) Slides by the Eameses Multi-screen slide shows were perhaps the Eameses most effective method for presenting everyday things in new ways and relationships. Encompassing an enormous breadth of subject matter, the slide shows were assembled for school courses and lectures as well as for corporate events. For these elaborate presentations, the Eameses drew upon their meticulously catalogued collection of approximately 350,000 slides: their very own “cabinet of curiosity.”
The Eameses' fiberglass chair solved the problem of how to make a seat out of a single body-fitting shell. The progressive quality and moldability of plastic made it even more alluring to the Eameses than plywood or stamped metal. Fiberglass had been used during the war by Zenith Plastics to reinforce plastic on airplane radar domes. Working together, Zenith and the Eameses re-conceptualized the use of the material, creating one of the first one-piece plastic chairs with an exposed rather than an upholstered surface. Zenith began mass-producing fiberglass armchairs in 1950 for the Herman Miller Furniture Company (today Herman Miller, Inc.). The chairs have only recently gone out of production. Inspired by trays, dress forms, baskets, and animal traps, the Eames Office investigated bent and welded wire mesh as the basis for furniture designs. The wire-mesh chair, like the fiberglass chair, was a uni-shell design. The shell could be adapted to various base configurations and upholstery types.