Iconic Designs
Eames Executive ChairBy Charles and Ray Eames
About the Design
American chess grand master Bobby Fischer pronounced the Eames Executive chair to be so comfortable that he insisted it was the only chair he could concentrate on during his world championship match against Boris Spassky in Iceland in 1972. In the end, both Spassky and Fischer were seated on the lightweight aluminum and leather chairs that have been seen in offices around the world since the piece's debut in 1960.
Modern American design luminaries Charles and Ray Eames (1907–78; 1912–88) initially came up with the concept for the Executive chair at the request of Time Inc. founder Henry Luce for the lobbies of the Time & Life Building in Manhattan. Luce had asked the Eameses to design several of the property’s lobbies as a return favor for their use of the Time/Life photo library, to which they had been granted access for their film Glimpses of the U.S.A., first shown at the American National Exhibition in Moscow in 1959.
Conceived to be smaller than the now-famous Eames lounge chair, the Executive chair was versatile enough to be used as a conference-room chair while still extremely comfortable. Since then, the Eames Executive chair, which features three individual upholstered cushions, has become so synonymous with chic mid-century modernism that examples of it were used around the conference table on the set of the TV series Mad Men.
Charles and Ray Eames first met at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where Ray was taking classes after studying painting with Hans Hofmann in New York. Charles had already established his own architecture practice in St. Louis, when he received a fellowship to Cranbrook and later headed its industrial design department.
After marrying in 1941, the newlyweds moved to Los Angeles, where they established the Eames Office and eventually built their lifelong residence, the Eames House in Pacific Palisades as part of the Case Study House Program.
Perhaps best known for their visionary work with molded plywood, the Eameses’ furniture designs, toys, graphic and textile designs, films and architecture truly transformed American interior design and furniture like almost no other designer of the 20th century. Many museums throughout the United States, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, hold examples of the Eames Executive chair in their permanent collections.
Herman Miller, the core business of which was office furnishings by the 1960s, continues to produce the Eames Executive chair. In Europe, the alluring leather swivel chair is manufactured by Vitra as the Eames Lobby chair.
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Vintage Time Life Lobby ES105 Chair by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller
By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray Eames
Located in Raleigh, NC
An early vintage model ES105 of the Time Life Lobby Chair by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, circa 1960s. Originally commissioned for the grand lobbies of the Time & Life Bu...
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Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
Materials
Metal, Aluminum
VITRA EAMES EA217 SOFTPAD UNiQUE GREEN LEATHER CAPTAINS OFFICE CHAIR
By Vitra, Charles and Ray Eames
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this super comfortable, original Vitra Eames in unique Green Leather, Soft Pad Captains or Directors chair w...
Category
20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Materials
Chrome
1960s Eames 3474 Time Life Executive Lobby Desk Chair Vitra ES104 Black Leather
By Vitra, Charles and Ray Eames
Located in London, GB
An extremely rare and museum-worthy 1960s model of the Eames Time-Life Desk Chair in lovely vintage condition. Widely considered the most iconic office chair design of the 20th Century, this especially rare version of an outstanding armchair will provide superb quality and comfort and will add a quintessential Mid-Century, 1960s-cool, ‘Mad Men’ aesthetic to any interior.
Eames Time-Life Desk Chairs are in high demand for their quality, durability and scarcity, especially in working condition and upholstered in leather, and even more so if they’re one of the oldest, first-generation models from the 1960s, such as this one. What makes this particular chair even more of a special piece is that this model hardly ever comes to market and a recent exhaustive search has found only one other – in a design museum.
A real gem, a design collector’s delight and one of the rarest early versions of one of the most sought-after chairs, this armchair was made 1960-1968 (or 1961-1970 depending on which maker’s website you read) and was produced in Switzerland by Vitra, who have held the European licence for manufacturing Eames furniture since 1957. The only other example we’ve found of this extremely rare European version of this much sought-after design icon is on the Vitra Design Museum’s website itself.
This superb chair goes by several names and can be called: the Eames Time Life Desk Chair, the Eames Executive Office Chair, the Eames 3474 (manufactured 1960-1968) or the later ES104 (manufactured 1968-1985). To somewhat further confuse the name, this super chair is similar to, but distinct from its precursor, the Time-Life Lobby Lounge Chair (which was made as a lounge chair specifically for the lobby of the Time Life Building in New York), and so this chair can also sometimes be called an Eames Lobby Chair, or an Eames Lobby Desk Chair. We like to use its correct moniker, the Eames Time Life Lobby Desk Chair or Eames 3474, which was released in 1961 as an adaptation of the slightly shorter, wider, squarer and more angle-backed Eames Time Life Lobby Lounge Chair released in 1960.
Expertly made, this extremely comfortable and reassuringly heavy armchair features plush, padded and buttoned black leather cushions to the seat, back and arms, over an aluminium frame set on the 1960s four-star aluminium base.
Distinguishing it from the Herman Miller (American licensee) produced 1960s version are the Vitra bolt-handle tilting mechanism and the Vitra black plastic ball feet casters with aluminium hoods, making this particular model an extremely rare (almost never seen outside of the Vitra Design Museum catalogue) version of this already very rare and much sought-after armchair.
All in all this is an incredibly rare, museum-worthy 1960s design icon, which won’t fail to add outstanding quality, comfort and quintessential Mid Century style and sophistication to any setting.
AUTHENTICITY
The labels on these early chairs appear to have been stuck to the underside only and as such, few labels still remain and such is the case with this chair, which no longer has an Eames or Vitra label. However, we’re 100% confident that this is an original 1960s Eames chair...
Category
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Materials
Aluminum
Green Leather Time Life Office Chair by Eames for Herman Miller 1996
By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray Eames
Located in Detroit, MI
This vintage mid century modern green Model 3475 Eames Time Life Lobby Chair designed by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller was manufactured in 1996. This classic office chair fea...
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1990s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Materials
Aluminum, Steel
Eames Time Life Chair in Black Leather for Herman Miller, 1980s USA
By Charles and Ray Eames
Located in Wilton, CT
Originally designed in 1960 by Charles and Ray Eames for use in the lobby of the Time Life building in New York City. This luxurious vintage chair made by Herman Miller in the 1980's...
Category
Early 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Ch...
Materials
Aluminum, Steel
Pair Eames Herman Miller Time Life Black Leather Office Chairs 1980s
By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray Eames
Located in Detroit, MI
These vintage mid century modern black Model 3475 Eames Time Life Lobby Chairs designed by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller were produced in 1981. This classic office chair feat...
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Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
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Eames for Herman Miller Time Life Black Leather Office Chairs, 1980s - Set of 4
By Charles and Ray Eames, Herman Miller
Located in Detroit, MI
These vintage mid century modern black Model 3475 Eames Time Life Lobby Chairs designed by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller were produced in the 1980s. This classic office chair...
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Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
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Herman Miller Time Life Chair by Ray and Charles Eames
By Charles and Ray Eames
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is arguably the most iconic American office chair design in the 20th century.
We are pleased to present this authentic Herman Miller Executive Office Chair in brown leather. T...
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21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Materials
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ORIGINAL 1960-1968 HERMAN MILLER 675 EAMES TiME LIFE LOBBY SWIVEL ARMCHAIR ES105
By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray Eames
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
Royal House Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this absolutely iconic piece of Mid Century Modern design history, the one and only, original, Eames for Her...
Category
Vintage 1960s European Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
Materials
Chrome
Herman Miller ES102 Intermediate Chair Design Charles & Ray Eames
By Charles and Ray Eames
Located in Offenburg, Baden Wurthemberg
rare Herman Miller ES102 Intermediate Desk chair designed by Charles & Ray Eames
Upholstery in blue Hopsack fabric, with chromed aluminium parts, equipped with...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Materials
Aluminum, Chrome
Vintage Eames Time Life Gray Velvet Office Chair Herman Miller 1978
By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray Eames
Located in Detroit, MI
This vintage mid century modern gray Model 3475 Eames Time Life Lobby Chair designed by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller was manufactured in 1978. This classic desk chair featur...
Category
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Pair Eames Herman Miller Time Life Black Leather Office Chairs
By Charles and Ray Eames, Herman Miller
Located in Detroit, MI
These mid century modern black Model 3475 Eames Time Life Lobby Chairs designed by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller were produced in 2015. This classic office chair features ori...
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2010s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
Materials
Aluminum, Steel
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