Charles and Ray Eames, who pioneered modern chair design in the 1940s and '50s, were responsible for some of the most innovative chairs of the 20th century. Their chairs were fabricated from wood, fiberglass, plastic, and metal mesh. Eames chairs have been widely imitated, but originals are highly sought-after by collectors because they are considered breakthroughs in both design and technology.
In 1940, Charles Eames met Ray Kaiser at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, which was also home to architect and Eames collaborator Eero Saarinen and furniture designer Harry Bertoia. The couple married a year later and moved to Los Angeles to continue their work in molded plywood.
By 1945, the couple had figured out how to create compound curves in molded plywood. One of their first pieces was a birch child’s chair and stool manufactured by the Molded Plyw...
Evans also produced about 1,000 LCW chairs (which stands for Lounge Chair Wood) before the Eameses began a long collaboration with the Herman Miller Furniture Company, which produced and distributed a number of chairs for them, including the DCM (Dining Chair Metal), in which two pieces of plywood are secured to a solid-rod chromed frame with rubber shock mounts. In 1951, Herman Miller was selling 2,000 of these chairs a month (examples with wooden legs were less popular, making them more collectible today).
Molded fiberglass chairs in a variety of bright colors — with or without arms, with or without a rocking base — came next. Serious Eames connoisseurs look for chairs from this period, 1950-1953, with a "Miller-Zenith" label on their undersides. The ones with wooden bases (DAW, PAW) are less common and thus more sought-after than the ones with metal legs (DAR, LAX, LAR, RAR). Around the same time, the couple designed chairs made from sturdy wire mesh, with covers available in leather, vinyl, and fabric by designer Alexander Girard.
These were the chairs that the Eameses produced for the mass consumer. By 1956, well-heeled customers could order a Lounge Chair and Ottoman, whose molded rosewood plywood form embraced rich leather upholstery. The chair is still available today from Herman Miller in cherry and walnut.
In 1958, the couple launched a chair collection called the Aluminum Group, which included a desk chair and a lounge chair — the armless models of the latter are most prized today. In 1960, Eames designed several chairs and a trio of stools for the new Time-Life Building in New York. One was an Executive Desk Chair, the other an Intermediate Desk Chair, which was a smaller version of the Executive that did not sell as well, making it the more prized of the two today.
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Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
EamesCollector.com

Steven Cabella's personal homage to Charles and Ray Eames. This site is as clean and visually appealing as the Eame… [read review or visit site]
Work of Charles and Ray Eames

This Library of Congress microsite is an overview of the postwar modern design work of Charles (1907-78) and Ray (1… [read review or visit site]
Herman Miller Consortium Collection

This website showcases several hundred pieces of furniture, held by thirteen museums, that were designed for Herman… [read review or visit site]
Modernism

An overview by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts of the design movements between 1880 and 1940 that comprised Moder… [read review or visit site]
Buffalo Architecture and History

Chuck LaChiusa's wonderful guide to the architecture and history of Buffalo, NY, also happens to host an impressive… [read review or visit site]
The Mid Century Modernist

Stephen Coles' really visual blog dedicated to the Modernist era of design from 1940 to 1970 (aka Mid-century Moder… [read review or visit site]
Chipstone

This beautiful site showcases the collection of Stanley and Polly Stone of Fox Point, Wisconsin, consisting of earl… [read review or visit site]
Kentucky Online Arts Resource

This huge online database from the Speed Art Museum is a rich trove of beautiful photos and reference information o… [read review or visit site]
Classic Modern

Get a taste of how homes were lit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s with the Danish retro-style lighting designs featured on… [read review or visit site]
Clubs & Associations: Furniture
Other Great Reference Sites: Furniture
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Recent News: Eames Chairs
Source: Google News
In the delightful 'Frances Ha,' a young adult tries to find her way
Chicago Sun-Times, May 23rdWithout a place to stay, Frances turns to a series of friends, including two guys (Michael Zegen and Adam Driver of “Girls”) who have a perfect apartment (“Is that an Eames chair?”), thanks to subsidies from their parents. When that stint ends, she...Read more
Throwback Thursday | Have A 1950?s Seat On A Herman Miller Eames Molded ...
stupidDOPE.com, May 23rdAvailable in nine colors, the Molded Plastic Eames chair can be designed with a combination of legs and body types. The chairs will be available for purchase this summer. Throwback Thursday | Have A 1950's Seat On A Herman Miller Eames Molded Plastic...Read more
The Homes That TV Built
PR Newswire UK (press release), May 23rdFrasier Crane's apartment Eames chair (23 per cent), ('Frasier') GBP361,500 Grand piano (22 per cent) Oak lamp tables (18 per cent), red sofa and 7. 'Downton Abbey' footstool (16 per cent) interiors GBP360,500 chandelier (15 per cent) La-Z-Boy...Read more
Design Ideas: Teeny, tiny and fabulous
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (blog), May 22ndThis seems especially true inside Opgenorth's house, which is full of white, black, neutral colors and lots and lots of green, from the mossy shag run to the olive green couch to the Kelly green Eames chair. And that's not to mention the plants...Read more
Iconic Eames chair returns to its fiberglass roots
The Verge, May 21stThe Michigan-based Herman Miller began producing Ray and Charles Eames' chair in 1950, using fiberglass-reinforced plastic. The chair itself went through several design iterations over the next decades, but the fiberglass remained until 1989, when...Read more
YLiving Announces Eames® Lounge Chair Giveaway May 13 – June 10, 2013
PR Web (press release), May 14thVisit YLiving.com for a chance to win an iconic Eames® Lounge Chair by Herman Miller. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Google+ Share on LinkedIn Email a friend. Walnut Creek, CA (PRWEB) May 14, 2013. YLiving Announces Eames®...Read more
New Eames Molded Wood Chairs
Babble, May 9thThe iconic Eames chair has been updated once again. Design Within Reach is now in offering Eames molded wood chairs, by Herman Miller. New 3-D veneer technology, rather than bent wood, allowed this new design to be created, while remaining true to...Read more
'Eames: The Architect and the Painter'
The Japan Times, May 9thThey believed design should be for the masses at affordable prices, and this belief played a part in defining the postwar lifestyle of the American middle-class. Now, of course, the Eames chair and the plywood coffee table are coveted items among...Read more
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