Early Eames DCW Mid-Century Modern Plywood Chair by Evans Products
View Similar Items
Early Eames DCW Mid-Century Modern Plywood Chair by Evans Products
About the Item
- Creator:Evans Products Company (Manufacturer),Charles and Ray Eames (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 28.75 in (73.03 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Length: 28.75 in (73.03 cm)Seat Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1940s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:West Palm Beach, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5160117904791
Eames DCW Chair
Although their ubiquitous leather lounge might be more recognizable, there’s arguably no chair that better embodies the design ethos of Charles and Ray Eames (1907–78; 1912–88) than the DCW dining chair. It was introduced at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art in a 1946 exhibition titled “New Furniture Designed by Charles Eames.” (Ray was notably absent from the exhibition title, despite being a full collaborator on the work.)
In its design, construction and manufacturing, the DCW is pure Eames. It was born of functionality and comfort, crafted in a shape that the ever-inquisitive Eameses decided would provide optimal support for a large number of people. “We found that comfort depended more on the perfect molding to the body shape than it did on the way the bone structure was supported,” Charles noted in a 1954 film on the piece. “If the structure was supported properly, the hard and rigid material, like molded plywood, can provide a remarkably high degree of comfort.”
This proper support is the result of the chair’s five distinct parts: a pair of two-legged bases, a bentwood seat, a bentwood back and a long piece of bentwood that connects each of these. Such construction allows for a certain flexibility in movement between the seat and the back without requiring any type of complicated adjustment mechanism.
The Eameses developed the DCW while tinkering with the “Kazam! Machine,” a mechanism they invented to press and mold wood veneer. In their Los Angeles apartment, the couple would place a sheet of wood veneer into the machine, then top it with a layer of glue. After repeating these steps 5 to 11 times and ensuring the layers were set in place, the Kazam! Machine was clamped shut and a bicycle pump inflated a balloon to press the layers into their molded shape. Charles and Ray then cut the mold and sanded each finished shape by hand.
The Kazam! Machine was a direct result of Charles and Ray’s determination to conceive an efficient, inexpensive means of production. Plywood, too, was a significant choice. Not unlike the molded plastic with which the Eameses would experiment, plywood was relatively cheap and easily available, rendering it optimal for the kind of democratic design the couple championed.
The Eames DCW chair has appeared (and continues to appear) in interiors by top designers all over the world. Today, it remains a top seller for Herman Miller — with equal credit given to Charles and Ray.
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.
- Pair of Oak Onassis Chairs by Karl Springer Mid-Century ModernBy Karl SpringerLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPair of oak Onassis chairs by Karl Springer, Mid-Century Modern, new upholstery in faux sheepskin.Category
20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsOak
- Brazilian Bentwood Lounge Chair by Moveis Cimo Mid-Century ModernBy Moveis CimoLocated in West Palm Beach, FLBrazilian Bentwood lounge chair by Moveis Cimo Mid-Century Modern.Category
20th Century Brazilian Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBentwood
- Live Edge Wood Coffee Table, 1970s Mid-Century ModernLocated in West Palm Beach, FLLive edge freeform coffee table made in burl-like wood, made in 1970s, Nakashima style. Mid-Century Modern.Category
Vintage 1970s North American Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Arne Jacobsen & Piet Hein Wood Dining Table Mid-Century Modern Fritz HansenBy Piet Hein, Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in West Palm Beach, FLLarge Arne Jacobsen & Piet Hein dining table. Wood has scratches and chipping, but adds to its pleasant patina. Fits 6 dining chairs.Category
20th Century Danish Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Hans Wegner Chairs GE 300 Easy Chairs for GETAMABy GETAMA, Hans J. WegnerLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPair of Hans Wegner chairs GE 300 easy chairs for GETAMA, Mid-Century Modern.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Cane Wicker Wrapped Modern Rustic Wood Bench TableLocated in West Palm Beach, FLCane wicker wrapped modern rustic wood bench table.Category
20th Century North American Benches
MaterialsCane, Wood
- Four 1940s Early Eames DCW Dining Chairs by Evans ProductsBy Evans Products Company, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brooklyn, NYRare set of four DCW dining chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames and manufactured by Evans Products. These were produced in the 1940s before Herma...Category
Vintage 1940s Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- Early DCW Dining Chair in Walnut by Charles & Ray Eames for Evans Plywood, 1940sBy Evans Products Company, Charles and Ray Eames, Charles EamesLocated in Vorst, BEThe DCW (=Dining Chair Wood) chair was designed by Charles and Ray Eames around 1945. This is a first generation chair produced by Evans Molded Plywood Company between 1946 and 19...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlywood
- Mid-Century 1940s Walnut DCW Plywood Chair by Charles & Ray Eames Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Las Vegas, NV1940s Brown walnut DCW plywood chair by Charles & Ray Eames Herman Miller Beautiful and really rare early DCW chair designed by Charles & Ray Eames. The chair is made out of walnu...Category
Vintage 1940s Chairs
MaterialsPlywood, Walnut
- Early Eames Walnut DCW for Herman Miller / Evans 'B'By Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Cincinnati, OHA early Eames DCW side chair in finely grained bent walnut ply from the iconic team of Ray and Charles Eames. Built after WW2 using techniques developed during war production and swi...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- A Classic Charles Eames Evans DCW 1940'sBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA classic, original, early production Charles Eames Evans Products, DCW (dining chair wood) in red analine dye.Category
Vintage 1940s American Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Early Red Aniline Dyed Eames LCM "Lounge Chair Metal", Signed with Evans LabelBy Evans Products Company, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Kansas City, MOVery early Charles Eames and Ray Eames LCM, for Evans Products Company, Venice, CA, circa 1945. Red aniline-dyed molded plywood, polished c...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
A Guide to Herman Miller’s Most Iconic Furniture
The prolific manufacturer has partnered with many of the world’s top designers since opening its doors in 1923. Here are some of the company’s greatest hits, which helped transform the American home and office.
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.