Original Eames Giant House of Cards
About the Item
- Creator:Charles and Ray Eames (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 2 in (5.08 cm)Width: 8.75 in (22.23 cm)Depth: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1950
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Brooklyn, NY
- Reference Number:
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: Brooklyn, NY
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Original Eames Time Life Stool BBy Ray Eames, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brooklyn, NYOriginal Time Life Stool B, designed by Charles and Ray Eames. One of the three sculptural forms created by Ray Eames for the Time Life building in 196...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWalnut
- Original Eames Fiberglass Shell Chairs by Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brooklyn, NYVintage 1960s molded fiberglass side shell chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller. Gleaming shells are in original condition, each with a distinct thready texture...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Pair of Eames Elephant Hide ArmchairsBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brooklyn, NYPair of original elephant hide fiberglass armchairs, designed by Ray and Charles Eames, manufactured by Herman Miller. An early 1950s version, each has a...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Original 1950s Eames for Herman Miller FSW-6 Folding Screen Room DividerBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brooklyn, NYAn early molded plywood screen divider in calico ash, designed by Charles & Ray Eames, manufactured by Herman Miller. The screen's ingenious design allows it to be formed into a vari...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsAsh
- Eames Time Life Stool ABy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brooklyn, NYOriginal, first-issue time life stool A, designed by Charles and Ray Eames. A striking design first commissioned for the Time Life Building and informe...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair of Early Eames Fiberglass Shell Chairs in TanBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Brooklyn, NYOriginal 1960s molded fiberglass shell chairs in thready tan, designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller. Gleaming shells are in original condition, in a lovely tan hue with...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- "Cry of the City" Original American Lobby CardsLocated in London, GBOriginal American set of eight lobby cards for Robert Siodmak's 1948 film Noir staring Victor Mature, Richard Conte.Category
Vintage 1940s American Posters
- Hermès Playing Cards / Cards Game in the Original Box, Vintage, 1970sBy HermèsLocated in Beuzevillette, FRHermès playing cards in the original box. vintage. Made in France. Both sets are complete and feature gold edges on both decks of cards. A deck of green cards and a deck of orange cards. elegant card back design. Box containing two decks of cards, the backs of these have a decoration of gold-colored horse bits forming circles on a red or green background, gilded edges. Hermes orange box...Category
Late 20th Century French Games
MaterialsPaper
- Charles and Ray Eames Molded Plywood Leg Splint for Evans in Original WrapperBy Charles and Ray Eames, Evans Products CompanyLocated in Chicago, ILThese leg splints were designed by Charles and Ray Eames and produced for the United States Navy by the Evans Products Company, molded plywood division. They're still in their origin...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Scientific Instruments
MaterialsPlywood
- 1980s Original Gorgeous Playing Cards Box by Piero FornasettiBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Milano, IT1980s Original gorgeous playing cards box by Piero Fornasetti in walnut wood . It's in excellent condition and includes two packs of Dal Negro cards. The box is signed on the botto...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Games
MaterialsWood, Walnut
- Collection of Ogdens' Tab Cigarette CardsLocated in Oxfordshire, GBThirteen Ogden Golf Cigarette Cards. The collection of thirteen 'Ogden's Tab Cigarettes' cards from the 'F series, General Interest' which contained 420 different subjects. The cards are with distinctive black borders, white block print 'Ogden's Cigarettes' and a main photo image with the golfers name. There are eight different professional male golfers Harry Vardon (3 identicail), Douglas McEwen, J.E. Laidley, T.T. Gray, Ryder Richardson, Ben Sayers (2 different cards),John graham, Lieut. Tait, James Braid...Category
Antique Early 1900s British Sports Equipment and Memorabilia
MaterialsPaper
- Original Antique Engraving of Various Houses of Tonga Tabu, c.1836Located in Langweer, NLAntique print titled 'Tonga-Tabu'. Old print depicting houses and a warehouse of Tonga Tabu. This print originates from 'Entdeckungs, Reise der Franzosischen Corvette Astrolabe Unter...Category
Antique 19th Century Prints
MaterialsPaper
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.
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.