Collectible Eames Chairs
Seating Classics by Mid-Century Designers Ray & Charles Eames
The market for mid-century furnishings and accessories is on fire, and few designs are hotter than chairs by husband and wife team, Ray and Charles Eames
Collectors of all ages love the clean lines of classic chairs by Ray and Charles Eames, many of which are being manufactured today. Here’s what it will cost to own both new and vintage models.
Ray & Charles & the Eames Era
Few designers contributed more to mid-century design than Ray (1912-1988) and Charles (1907-1978) Eames. Married in 1948, Charles was an architect and Ray a painter and illustrator. They met at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where Charles ran the Design Department.
Together, the Eameses produced leading edge designs for a range of products including furniture, textiles, graphics, films and toys. According to Sally Hoban in her book Collecting Modern Design, the couple believed that “new technology would lead to good design that would improve people's lives both functionally and intellectually.”
Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright & Alvar Aalto
Charles was inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto and their use of organic forms. Aalto had also been experimenting with molded plywood, and had early successes in creating compound curves that fit the human body and mimicked those found in nature. In 1941, experiments with molded plywood lead to a contract with the U.S. Navy for plywood leg splints.
In 1940, Charles and Eero Saarinen submitted the winning entry for the Organic Design in Home Furnishings Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. Their entry included chair prototypes designed for mass production, but these chairs were never made, as manufacturing technology had not kept pace with design.
By 1945, the industrial needs of WWII made more designs possible. Ray and Charles began designing furniture of plastic, fiberglass and aluminum as well as plywood; inexpensive materials that would make affordable furniture, and satisfy the couples mission of, “getting the most of the best to the greatest number of people for the least amount of money.”
Molded Plywood Chairs
The LCW (lounge chair wood) DCW (dining chair wood) & DCM (dining chair metal) were the Eamses' breakthrough designs. The chairs have molded plywood seats and backs, and come in a variety of sizes and finish variations. The LCW and the DCW are all plywood, but the DCM and its slightly larger, side chair version, the LCM (low side chair) have molded seats and backs affixed to a chrome fame via rubber shock mounts, another Eames innovation that solved the previously insoulable problem of successfully fastening two contrasting material together in an attractive and durable way. Vintage DCM chairs cost anywhere between $75 and $300 each depending on finish and condition. A new LCW can be purchased for $700, while vintage versions go for $300 to $700.
The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman
Modeled after an English club chair, the Eames lounge chair and ottoman haven’t been out of production since their debut in 1951. The original chair was made of shells of laminated rosewood. New versions, available in cherry and walnut sell for $3,500. Vintage models go anywhere from $900 to $3,200, but a vintage lounge chair and ottoman in rosewood and the original black leather in mint condition can fetch $7,000.
Eames Fiberglass Shell Chairs
Possibly the most easily recognizable of all the Eames chairs, variations on the shell chair appeared in a multitude of venues, and as knockoffs by competing manufacturers. The shell chair could be dressed up with upholstery and wire legs (Eiffel tower base) or stripped down to its fiberglass shell with straight legs. There was even a rocking chair version. Depending on finishes, variations, color and conditions, shell chairs range in price from $800 for a rocker to $50 for basic shell in a common color.
Source:
- Collecting Modern Design by Sally Hoban Miller, 2001
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