Eames Ea
Vintage 1950s Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Chrome, Metal
1990s German Post-Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
Early 2000s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum, Chrome
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
2010s German Post-Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Fabric
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1980s German Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Teak
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk ...
Aluminum
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum, Chrome
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
1990s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Aluminum, Chrome
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
20th Century Lounge Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s Central American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk...
Aluminum
Early 2000s German Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1980s German Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Swivel Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1980s German Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Swivel Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Aluminum
Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1960s Swivel Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1960s American Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
2010s American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1950s Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
20th Century Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1980s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal, Aluminum
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Late 20th Century Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Early 2000s European Modern Chairs
Iron
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1980s German Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Leather
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Aluminum
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century American Modern Chairs
Leather
20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
Aluminum
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Eames Ea For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Eames Ea?
Charles and Ray Eames for sale on 1stDibs
Charles Eames and Ray Eames were the embodiment of the inventiveness, energy and optimism at the heart of mid-century modern American design, and have been recognized as the most influential designers of the 20th century.
As furniture designers, filmmakers, artists, textile and graphic designers and even toy and puzzle makers, the Eameses were a visionary and effective force for the notion that design should be an agent of positive change. They are the happy, ever-curious, ever-adventurous faces of modernism.
Charles (1907–78) studied architecture and industrial design. Ray (née Beatrice Alexandra Kaiser, 1912–88) was an artist, who studied under the Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann. They met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Detroit (the legendary institution where Charles also met his frequent collaborator Eero Saarinen and the artist and designer Harry Bertoia) and married the next year.
His technical skills and her artistic flair were wonderfully complementary. They moved to Los Angeles in 1941, where Charles worked on set design for MGM. In the evenings at their apartment, they experimented with molded plywood using a handmade heat-and-pressurization device they called the “Kazam!” machine. The next year, they won a contract from the U.S. Navy for lightweight plywood leg splints for wounded servicemen — they are coveted collectibles today; more so those that Ray used to make sculptures.
The Navy contract allowed Charles to open a professional studio, and the attention-grabbing plywood furniture the firm produced prompted George Nelson, the director of design of the furniture-maker Herman Miller Inc., to enlist Charles and (by association, if not by contract) Ray in 1946. Some of the first Eames items to emerge from Herman Miller are now classics: the LCW, or Lounge Chair Wood, and the DCM, or Dining Chair Metal, supported by tubular steel.
The Eameses eagerly embraced new technology and materials, and one of their peculiar talents was to imbue their supremely modern design with references to folk traditions. Their Wire chair group of the 1950s, for example, was inspired by basket weaving techniques. The populist notion of “good design for all” drove their molded fiberglass chair series that same decade, and also produced the organic-form, ever-delightful La Chaise. In 1956 the Eames lounge chair and ottoman appeared — the supremely comfortable plywood-base-and-leather-upholstery creation that will likely live in homes as long as there are people with good taste and sense.
Charles Eames once said, “The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests.” For very good collectors and thoughtful interior designers, a piece of design by the Eameses, the closer produced to original conception the better, is almost de rigueur — for its beauty and comfort, and not least as a tribute to the creative legacy and enduring influence of Charles and Ray Eames.
The collection of original Eames furniture on 1stDibs includes chairs, tables, case pieces and other items.
Finding the Right Seating for You
With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.
Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.
Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.
The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.
Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.
With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.
Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.
No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.