Charles Eames, Lounge Chair in black leather by Herman Miller
About the Item
- Creator:Charles and Ray Eames (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 31.5 in (80 cm)Width: 31.5 in (80 cm)Depth: 33.86 in (86 cm)Seat Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1956
- Condition:Repaired: A restoration was done to the armrests to consolidate. Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Minor fading.
- Seller Location:Argelato, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU7342232102692
Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman
Long before it was the pièce de résistance in a collector’s office or an upscale bachelor pad — landing in ample design magazines, on television and in well-appointed offices over the years — the Eames lounge chair was a fresh, subversive new take on a classic club chair and a culmination of experimentation by its inventive creators.
Charles and Ray Eames (1907–78; 1912–88) met while studying at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, the prestigious Michigan institution that drew such illustrious design minds as Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen and more. After graduation, they formed the Eames Office, where they spent much time exploring and formulating new techniques in bent plywood and fiberglass with the goal of producing affordable furniture for a mass market. The Eames lounger, on the other hand — with its signature wood-grain back and sumptuous (usually black) leather seat — was different.
While the couple’s DCW chairs, introduced in the 1940s, prioritized ease of production and affordability of materials, the lounge, which debuted in 1956, was Charles and Ray’s interpretation of luxury furniture. And to the Eameses, luxury meant, above all, comfort. The couple famously called the lounge chair and ottoman “a special refuge from the strains of modern living” and described their design as having the “warm receptive look of a well-used first baseman’s mitt.”
Although the seat makes use of the same bentwood technique the Eameses pioneered using their famous “Kazam! Machine” (a handmade apparatus for molding plywood) for their DCW chairs, it tops off this frame with supple leather over a plump, upholstered shape.
Ever fascinated by ergonomics, the Eameses carefully calibrated the pitch of the seat. It has enough flexibility for comfort but not so much that stability is sacrificed. This precise shape comes by way of three connected plywood pieces, which, on early models were covered in five layers of Brazilian rosewood; owing to an early 1990s-era embargo on the material, however, the Brazilian rosewood has since been replaced with either ash, walnut or palisander. The accompanying ottoman is the icing on the comfort cake, inviting the sitter to quite literally kick back and relax.
Today, imitations of the Eames lounge chair and ottoman abound. The seat is currently manufactured by both Herman Miller and Vitra, and when it was launched initially by the former, the supporting marketing blitz emphasized the chair’s versatility — an effort that, given the seat’s current ubiquitousness, was clearly successful.
Charles and Ray Eames
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Argelato, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Gianfranco Frattini, Rare Pair of Wingback Armchairs Model 877, Cassina 1959By Gianfranco FrattiniLocated in Argelato, BORare pair of Wingback armchairs from an important chalet in the Italian Alps. Designed by the Italian Architect Gianfranco Frattini for the Cassina company in 1959. The fabric, in ex...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Charles Eames Wire Chairs with Bikini Cover on Eiffel Base's (Old Edition)By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Argelato, BOAwesome Classic Brown Eames wire chairs on a black eiffel base with the bikini cover for Herman Miller. It is a true icon of mid-century American design, offered here in one of its...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Safari Lounge chairs by Kaare Klint, Rasmussen, DenmarkBy Kaare KlintLocated in Argelato, BOPair of Safari lounge chairs by Kaare Klint, Rasmussen, Denmark Pair of Safari Lounge Chairs, in leather and wood, model KK47000 by Kaare Klint (1888-1954) for Rud. Rasmussen Snedke...Category
Vintage 1940s Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Midcentury Modern Sergio Rodrigues "Sheriff" Lounge Chairs, BrazilBy Sergio RodriguesLocated in Argelato, BOAn authentic icon of Mid-Century Brazilian design, the Sheriff armchair is one of the most important and beloved works of the Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues. Extremely comfort...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Original Black "Circle" Chair by Yngve Ekström for Swedese, 1960s, SwedenBy Yngve EkströmLocated in Argelato, BOIt is one of the most iconic and representative chairs of Swedish design, designed by Yngve Ekström and produced in the 1960s for Swedese, Sweden. With colleagues such as Aalto, M...Category
Vintage 1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Warren Platner Easy Lounge Chair for Knoll 1966 (Old Edition)By Knoll, Warren PlatnerLocated in Argelato, BOVintage Warren Platner Easy Chair (Model 1705; aka Easy Lounge Chair) It is one of the most iconic and representative models of the famous American architect and designer Warren Pl...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- Charles Eames Lounge Chairs for Herman MillerBy Charles Eames, Herman MillerLocated in bari, ITSet two lounge chairs model EA 108 designer Charles Eames for Herman Miller production 1960s. Charles Eames began very early in life as a designer to the extent that he was employed, as early as age 14, in the workshops of the Laclede Steel Company. He studied architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. He proposed to his professors the study of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright but, at first dissuaded from his intent, was later expelled from the school on the grounds that-we read in the commentary of one of the professors-"his point of view was too modern." A great influence on him was Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, with whom he shared some professional experiences and became friends. In 1938, at the latter's invitation, he moved to Michigan, where he studied architecture at Cranbrook Academy of Art and later taught there, also becoming head of the Industrial Design department. In 1941 he won, with Eero Saarinen, the competition for MoMA in New York concerning "Organic Design in Home Furnishing." Their work showed a new way of conceiving wooden furniture, experimenting with the use of bentwood plywood, as done a few years earlier by Alvar Aalto. In 1941 he was united in second marriage to Ray Kaiser...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Charles Eames for Herman Miller Tandem Aluminum Lounge Chairs in Edelman LeatherBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Los Angeles, CAIncredible pair of restored and reimagined Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, 1962 Collection, Tandem modular seating that was originally designed for Chicago O'Hare Airport, w...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Mid-Century Lounge Chair and Ottoman by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brussels, BEMid-Century Lounge Chair and Ottoman by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller for ICFCategory
20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Charles and Ray Eames DAX chair by Herman Miller, 70sBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Athens, AttikiThe fully upholstered DAX chair is part of the Eames plastic armchairs collection, first presented as part of a New York Moma competition. An iconic piece o...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Charles Eames Lounge Chair, Brown Leather, Light Walnut, Herman Miller, 2007By Charles Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Lejre, DKThe Charles Eames Lounge Chair in brown leather and light walnut, produced by Herman Miller. Designed in 1958 and brought to life in 2007, this iconic piece of furniture represents t...Category
Early 2000s Danish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- White Office Chair by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller 1970sBy ICF Milano 1, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Lasne, BECanvas armchair with aluminium base and castors. Stamped under the seat ICF. Height and tilt adjustable. Turns on itself. Wear due to time and age. Maximum height: 109 cm. Seat heigh...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
Iconic Furniture Makes This 1958 Midwestern Home a True Mid-Century Gem
Designer Susan Yeley turned to 1stDibs to outfit an Indiana home with standout pieces that complement its modernist style.