1940s Vintage Evans Herman Miller Eames Ash Dcw 5-2-5 Chair
About the Item
- Creator:
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 28.75 in (73.03 cm)Width: 19.38 in (49.23 cm)Depth: 21.75 in (55.25 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Ash,Molded
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1940s
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Saint Paul, MN
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU7331230254032
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Saint Paul, MN
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- 1940s Vintage Evans Herman Miller Eames Rosewood Dcw 5-2-5 ChairBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman Miller, Evans Products CompanyLocated in Saint Paul, MNThe first chair by Charles and Ray Eames, the DCW changed mid century modernism forever. This rosewood example, bears the uncommon Herman Miller/ Evans Products label.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRosewood
- Vintage Dcms by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, Set of 6By Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Saint Paul, MNThe chair that started it all. Masters of molded plywood, the Eames adapted their dining chair wood to be fitted with a metal base and thus the dining chair metal was born. This set of walnuts chairs...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Herman Miller Rosewood Eames Lounge Chair 1960sBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman Miller, Charles Eames, Ray EamesLocated in Saint Paul, MNAbout as iconic as they come. The Eames 670, more commonly known as the Eames Lounge Chair was the brain child of the modernist masters Ray and Charles Eames. Conceived in 1956, it's...Category
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsRosewood
- 1950s Vintage Herman Miller Eames CTM Coffee TableBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Saint Paul, MNThird generation black CTM by Ray and Charles Eames for Herman Miller. No label. Retains original feet. Likely produced in 1950 (due to the domes of silence) as opposed to a late...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Vintage Robert Mallet Stevens 222 Dining ChairBy Robert Mallet-StevensLocated in Saint Paul, MNVintage 222 chair by Robert Mallet- Stevens. Stamped on underside.Category
Mid-20th Century European Bauhaus Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Cast Aluminum Tulipe Chairs by Pierre Guariche for Steiner, Set of 4By Steiner, Pierre GuaricheLocated in Saint Paul, MNA standard of French design, the Tulipe chair by Pierre Guariche has been a rising star and is approaching the desirability of his contemporaries' designs. These chairs are in ra...Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Dcw Dining Chairs Ash by Charles & Ray Eames for Evans / Herman Miller, 1940sBy Charles and Ray Eames, Charles Eames, Herman Miller, Evans Products CompanyLocated in Vorst, BEDCW (dining chair wood) chairs In ash veneer. First generation chairs produced by Evans Products Company and distributed by Herman Miller between 19...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAsh, Plywood
- Fine Charles Eames for Evans Sold by Herman Miller Ash Grain DCM Dining ChairBy Charles and Ray Eames, Evans Products Company, Herman MillerLocated in Ferndale, MIVery nice early production Charles and Ray Eames designed dining chair metal (DCM ). Clean chrome frame supports ash grain seat and back. Retains original Eames Evans Herman Miller w...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Four 1940s Early Eames DCW Dining Chairs by Evans ProductsBy Charles and Ray Eames, Evans Products CompanyLocated 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 American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- Early DCW Dining Chair in Walnut by Charles & Ray Eames for Evans Plywood, 1940sBy Charles and Ray Eames, Charles Eames, Evans Products CompanyLocated 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
- Two Charles and Ray Eames Herman Miller DCW chairsBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Ferndale, MITwo Herman Miller DCW ( dining chair wood ) chairs . From the Charles and Ray Eames office design studio . Both chairs are Walnut finish . They are priced individually . Estate fresh...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlywood
- Signed 1950s Herman Miller Eames DCM Dining Chair in AshBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Brooklyn, NYBeautiful early Herman Miller production DCM in Ash. In original unrestored condition. Signed and guaranteed authentic. Circa 1950s with all glides and screws intact. Beautiful aged ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
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.