1970s Midcentury Orange Sofa Compact by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller
View Similar Items
1970s Midcentury Orange Sofa Compact by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller
About the Item
- Creator:Herman Miller (Manufacturer),Charles and Ray Eames (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 35 in (88.9 cm)Width: 72 in (182.88 cm)Depth: 30 in (76.2 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Circa 1970
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very good vintage condition with wear consistent with age and use. Some scattered light stains to upholstery on backrest and seat. From a distinguished Minnesota corporate collection.
- Seller Location:Detroit, MI
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU8074234145502
Eames Sofa Compact
Set on a simple metal frame with a seat that extends just 2.5 feet from the wall — yet comfortably seats three adults — the Eames Sofa Compact, created by visionary American designers Charles and Ray Eames (1907–78; 1912–88), is a prime example of the pair’s continual exploration of new ways to achieve comfort with minimal materials.
In 1949, the Eameses built the Eames House, their Pacific Palisades home and studio and a building that would become both a breeding ground for fresh design ideas and a real-time example of modern living.
The home was conceived as part of a challenge put forth by Arts & Architecture magazine to develop low-cost modern housing in Los Angeles, an idea that aligned nicely with the efforts the Eameses had been making in affordable furniture for mass production. The sofa they designed to fit neatly into an alcove in the house would serve as a model for the Eames Sofa Compact, which would be manufactured by Herman Miller within the subsequent several years.
By the time the Eameses moved into Case Study House No. 8, as it is officially known, they had both graduated from Cranbrook Academy of Art, the esteemed art school and launching pad for a multitude of design luminaries (their peers included Florence Knoll and Eero Saarinen), and moved to Los Angeles. In their first apartment there, the couple began experimenting with bent and molded plywood using their “Kazam! Machine,” a device that pressed strips of wood into moldable pieces, allowing for increased flexibility in shape for wood furniture, such as their DCW dining chair.
In the decades that followed, the Eameses continued to experiment with new methods for producing furniture quickly and cheaply. The first prototype for the Sofa Compact was completed in 1951 with a metal frame and folding back. It was designed to pack flat for easy shipping. In 1954, the final version of the sofa went into production through Herman Miller, which offered it in a variety of upholstery options.
Although the sofa’s seat is thin, its ergonomic shape and firm pads of urethane foam make it feel much more plush than it appears. Today the Eameses are among Herman Miller’s best-known furniture designers, and the manufacturer offers the Sofa Compact in three colors.
An early version of the sofa still sits in the Eames House, now a National Historic Landmark. It’s draped in a blanket — an apt metaphor for the Eameses’ creation of modernism that was never cold.
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.
- Mid Century Orange Brown Leather Office Chair by Eames for Herman Miller 2000sBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Detroit, MIThis authentic Eames for Herman Miller Soft Pad Management Height mustard orange brown leather office chair from the Aluminum Group Collection was manufactured in the 2000s. This cla...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs ...
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
$2,300 Sale Price20% Off - Mid Century Brown Leather Office Chair by Eames for Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Detroit, MIThe Aluminum Group Thin Pad Management side office chair designed by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller is from the Eames Aluminum Group Collection. These distinctive chairs resul...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs ...
MaterialsAluminum, Steel, Chrome
- Mid Century Black Leather Office Chair by Eames for Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Charles Eames, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Detroit, MIThis authentic Eames for Herman Miller Soft Pad Management Height black leather office chair from the Aluminum Group Collection was manufactured in the 2000s. This classic mid centur...Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
- Mid Century Cream Leather Office Chair by Eames for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Detroit, MIThis authentic Eames for Herman Miller Soft Pad Management Height cream leather office chair from the Aluminum Group Collection was manufact...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs ...
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
$2,300 Sale Price20% Off - Mid Century Brown Leather Desk Chair by Eames for Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Detroit, MIThis authentic Eames for Herman Miller Soft Pad Management Height brown leather desk chair from the Aluminum Group Collection was manufactured in the 2000s. This classic mid century ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs ...
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
$2,300 Sale Price20% Off - Mid Century Gray Leather Office Chairs by Eames for Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Detroit, MIThese original Eames for Herman Miller Soft Pad Management Height textured gray leather desk chairs from the Aluminum Group Collection were manufactured in the 2000s. This classic mi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs ...
MaterialsAluminum, Steel, Chrome
$4,600 Sale Price / set20% Off
- Original Mid century Compact Sofa by Ray and Charles Eames for Herman MillerBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman Miller, Charles EamesLocated in BROOKLYN, NYOriginal Eames sofa compact with orange Herman miller woven upholstery. Charles and Ray Eames compact couch is great design that keeps a subtle profile. The cushioned pads that form ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Charles Eames for Herman Miller Compact SofaBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Pasadena, TXThe Eames sofa compact works where bulkier sofas don’t. The clean profile and crisp, light scale evolved from a built-in sofa that Charles and Ray Eames designed for the living room ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsOther
$2,800 Sale Price20% Off - 2006 Herman Miller by Ray and Charles Eames Sofa Compact Blue Fabric UpholsteryBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is an original Herman Miller Eames Sofa Compact designed by Ray and Charles Eames. The sofa compact was designed to be as eff...Category
Early 2000s American Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
- 2006 Herman Miller Ray and Charles Eames Sofa Compact Purple Fabric UpholsteryBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is an original Herman Miller Eames Sofa Compact designed by Ray and Charles Eames. The sofa compact was designed to be as eff...Category
Early 2000s American Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
- Charles Eames Herman Miller Compact SofaLocated in Pasadena, TXCharles Eames Herman Miller compact sofa The Eames sofa compact works where bulkier sofas don’t. The clean profile and crisp, light scale...Category
Vintage 1960s Sofas
MaterialsIron
- DSR chairs by Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller, 1970sBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Lasne, BESet of 4 dark blue fibreglass chairs. Stamped Herman Miller (see photo). These are the Eiffels legs. One chair has been repaired and is still a bit damaged (see photo). Wear due to t...Category
Vintage 1970s Central American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
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.