Eames sidetrack
>> Sunday, January 20, 2008 –
Barnes Foundation,
Eames,
Matisse
No, dear readers, I have not (quite) shirked my duties in writing Art Thoughts, entry two. I have an excuse: Vicki and I were up in Rhode Island this weekend, picking up a set of six original orange fiberglass shell side chairs, Eames-designed; Herman Miller-manufactured. (Above you can see on the left what they look like now; on the right is what we will make them look like eventually...with the Eiffel wire base.)
So, patience is due; I'll post the new entry for Art Thoughts tomorrow (Monday) since I have off work. A Matisse painting is up next.
Posts
Where do you get the Eiffel wire base? Is that an original design for the chairs? D
D - there's a company which reproduces the original bases for these chairs; I forget the name. And yes, that Eiffel base was originally available, along with about four other designs. I think most of us are just used to seeing the stackable, since it was the most popular. They even could be ordered with a rocker base!
The bases can be had at http://tinyurl.com/3xykbg
Modernica.net makes and sells reproduction Eames Shell chairs using the original Herman Miller molds. The reason I believe that these "reproductions" are better than the new Herman-Miller endorsed versions sold at Design Within Reach and other Modern furniture outlets, is that they are made of the original fiberglass reenforced plastic as opposed to the new HMs that are made of only polypropelene.
An ad from 1954 showing the side chair with wire base:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames/images/vc9656.jpg
Thanks!