Rosewood and Black Leather Eames Lounge Chair by ICF for Herman Miller
View Similar Items
Rosewood and Black Leather Eames Lounge Chair by ICF for Herman Miller
About the Item
- Creator:
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 33.08 in (84 cm)Width: 33.08 in (84 cm)Length: 33.08 in (84 cm)Seat Height: 14.97 in (38 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Vienna, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1050617849781
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.
- White Pedestal Coffee Side Table by George Nelson for Herman Miller, USA, 1960sBy George Nelson, Herman MillerLocated in Vienna, ATThis iconic circular white 5452 pedestal coffee or side table was designed by George Nelson and made by Herman Miller, USA 1960s. It features a White laminate top and enameled steel...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
$995 Sale Price35% Off - Scandinaviaan Brown Leather Swan Chair by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen DenmarkBy Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Vienna, ATBeautiful brown leather swan lounge chairs model 3320, designed by Arne Jacobsen 1958 for the SAS Royal Copenhagen Hotel which opened in 1960. This o...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
$4,550 Sale Price20% Off - Danish Modern Teak and Brown Leather Loungechair by Finn Juhl for France and SonBy France & Søn, Finn JuhlLocated in Vienna, ATThis excellent and comfortable Scandinavian Modern lounge chair model number FD 136 was designed by Finn Juhl for France & Son, Denmark 1960s. It feature a curved backrest and and se...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Teak
- Italian Midcentury Beech Lounge Chair with Green LeatheretteLocated in Vienna, ATAmazing and comfortable Italian midcentury beechwood armchairs with very charming original green Leatherette upholstery in beautiful original condition. They feature a wooden frame a...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBeech, Faux Leather
$918 Sale Price / item30% Off - Set of Four Art Deco Bentwood Lounge Chairs by Bas Van Pelt NetherlandsBy Bas Van PeltLocated in Vienna, ATBas Van Pelt, a set of four Art Deco / early mid-century easy chairs, rosewood color stained oak frame with new upholstery, manufactured in the Netherla...Category
Vintage 1940s Dutch Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Oak, Bentwood
- Red Soft Big Easy Chair by Ron Arad for Moroso Italy 1990sBy Moroso, Ron AradLocated in Vienna, ATThis iconic postmodern Lounge chair model Soft Big Easy has been sesigned by Ron Arad 1888 for Poltrona Moroso Italy. It features beautiful red fabric upholstery. From big easy, stee...Category
1990s Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
$1,408 Sale Price62% Off
- Herman Miller Rosewood Eames Lounge Chair 1960sBy Charles Eames, Ray Eames, Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated 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
- Classic Eames for Herman Miller Lounge Chair and Ottoman in Rosewood and LeatherBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in New York, NYArguably the most iconic Midcentury design ever produced, the Eames 670 /671 chaired ottoman remain as important and relevant today as when it was first introduced. This example feat...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsRosewood, Leather
- CLassic Brazilian Rosewood and Leather Eames Lounge Chair & Ott Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Buffalo, NYIconic 670 lounge chair and 671 ottoman, designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller. A luxuriously soft and comfortable design. Frame showcases the gorgeous Brazilian rosewo...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller Rosewood & Leather Lounge Chair, c1970sBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Chino Hills, CAStep into a world of timeless elegance and unparalleled comfort with this authentic mid-century Rosewood Eames Lounge Chair (model #670) a...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Rosewood
- Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller 670 Rosewood Lounge Chair and OttomanBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Philadelphia, PACharles and Ray Eames 670 Rosewood Lounge Chair and Ottoman. Black leather with down filled cushions. Wood grain on this example is really nice! ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Herman Miller Eames Lounge Chair and OttomanBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Brooklyn, NYHandsome classic Eames lounge chair and ottoman. Executed in rosewood and black leather. Cast aluminum bases, with adjustable “domes of silence” leveling glides. Extremely comfortabl...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge 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.