Eames La Fonda Chair
View Similar Items
Eames La Fonda Chair
About the Item
- Creator:Charles and Ray Eames (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 25.25 in (64.14 cm)Depth: 26 in (66.04 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. In excellent original vintage condition with just the slight bit of patina from age and use.
- Seller Location:Cincinnati, OH
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU92511345348
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.
- Early Label Eames Armshell Chair by Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Cincinnati, OHAn elephant gray green toned fiberglass armshell chair with satin black iron X-base, rubber and metal boot feet , large early shock mounts and the red second generation decal label w...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Early Rope Edge Eames Lounge Chair for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Cincinnati, OHA very early 1st generation rope edge rare lounge height fiberglass arm shell chair with the larger rubber shock mounts having metal washers and satin black iron X base. The chair st...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsIron
- Early Eames Aniline Dyed DCM Chair for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Cincinnati, OHBlack aniline dyed wood seat and back DCM (dining chair metal) chromed metal framed side chair, domes of silence foot pads and early foil label....Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Eames Walnut 670 Lounge Chair with Ottoman by Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Cincinnati, OHThe classic iconic Eames lounge chair and ottoman with walnut frame, soft black leather upholstered cushions and cast aluminum legs. Retains the manufactures tags to each piece by th...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- 6 Eames 50th Anniversary Executive Aluminum Group Chairs for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Cincinnati, OHA set of six 50th Anniversary edition 1958 - 2008 executive rolling high back aluminum group chairs . Upholstered in a smooth and soft taupe spinney back leather only for this editio...Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Eames 50th Anniversary Executive Aluminum Group Desk Chair for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Cincinnati, OHA 50th Anniversary edition 1958 - 2008 executive rolling high back aluminum group chair . Upholstered in a smooth and soft taupe spinney back leather only for this edition with polis...Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- La Fonda Arm Chair by Eames for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Centreville, VAThis arm chair is one of two new fiberglass chairs Charles and Ray Eames designed in 1961, inspired by request from Alexander Girard, who needed seating for his new Manhattan restaurant, La Fonda Del Sol. Some collectors call these “La Fonda” chairs after the restaurant where they were first installed. Because Girard wanted chairs with seat backs no higher than dining table tops, Charles and Ray Eames designed the Eames La Fonda Arm Chair...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- La Fonda Arm Chair by Eames for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Centreville, VAThis arm chair is one of two new fiberglass chairs Charles and Ray Eames designed in 1961, inspired by request from Alexander Girard, who needed seating for his new Manhattan restaurant, La Fonda Del Sol. Some collectors call these “La Fonda” chairs after the restaurant where they were first installed. Because Girard wanted chairs with seat backs no higher than dining table tops, Charles and Ray Eames designed the Eames La Fonda Arm Chair...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- Charles & Ray Eames Herman Miller "La Fonda" ArmchairBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Minerbio, BOOriginal period armchair, as seen in photo in incredible condition, leather has no scratches and/or tears, fiberglass shell perfect without any kind of breakage. View the photos well...Category
Antique 18th Century and Earlier Italian Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- La Fonda Chairs by Eames for Vitra, Original Fabric, Fiberglass, 1960sBy Charles and Ray Eames, VitraLocated in amstelveen, NLLa Fonda chairs by Eames for Vitra, Orange, Fiberglass, 1960s. This lovely set of two La Fonda armchairs is the absolute eye-catcher in every styl...Category
Vintage 1960s European Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsAbalone, Wool, Fiberglass
- Fibreglass La Fonda Chair by Charles & Ray Eames for Vitra, 1960sBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Bruxelles, BELa Fonda chair, designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Alexander Girard’s La Fonda del Sol restaurant in New York, 1960s. The chair has a gra...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Pair of Eames Aluminum Group ChairsBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in New York, NYPair of modern aluminum chairs.Category
Vintage 1950s American Chairs
$6,500 / set
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.