Before Christmas, several of us mid-century bloggers were commenting about the Herman Miller Eames chairs Mr. Modtomic got in trade for the Brasilia desk, and I said I'd post a picture of mine. My holiday countdown distracted me, and I'm just now remembering.
I got this yellow chair a year or so ago...also in a trade. I had a Vermont Castings stainless steel gas grill that I wasn't using, and the owner of the Eames chair was willing to trade for it. Dollar for dollar, she probably came out ahead, but I figure the grill will continue to depreciate, and the chair will only increase in value over time.
I fell in love with this little beauty the minute I saw it, but I really didn't have a place for it, so it's bounced all over the house, finally landing in a corner of the living room, as a quasi-cover-up for that unsightly Bose thing that has something to do with my surround sound system (though don't ask me what). It was here when I bought the place. But I digress...
When I got the chair, it had a four-point star pedestal, which I stored in my workshop when I replaced it with an Eiffel rocker base. The change significantly decreased the height of the chair, making it the perfect height for my 15-month-old grandson to climb up on and rock...with a little help from Grammo.
I've sold other shell chairs...one a fiberglass armchair and another a tan jackstraw fiberglass on a swivel base...and I'm always tempted to buy more, even though I have one sitting in the workshop right now waiting to be restored. There's something irresistible about the design...like potato chips or pistachios. One just isn't enough.
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| My sweet little chair |
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Then there are people who don't understand when "just one more" is entirely too many.
designpublic.com
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I love the bright yellow. Where did you get your rocker base? I have a arm shell that I would love to make into a rocker?
ReplyDelete@hannah: I bought the repro rocker base from an eBay seller named modernconscience. I see that there are several others who carry them now, but the person I bought from has very good feedback, offers free shipping and will take offers.
ReplyDeleteGood tip on the rocker base!
ReplyDeleteI'm in love with the shell chairs, too. We have four as our dining chairs, and I dream of switching the H bases to wood dowel ones. I realized I search them out now wherever I go. I spent about ten minutes last summer trying to figure out of the lifeguard stands at the pool we go to were topped with aqua shell chairs. I'm almost positive they are, in part because I know the pool was built in the 1950's and hasn't really been renovated. I've since noticed several other pools in Atlanta that were built in the mid-century period that have the same shell chairs on the lifeguard stands. They really look like the Eames shape, with all of the proportional and graceful lines. Amazing with all that sun and water, etc., they usually still look pristine.
One may not ever be enough but I'd at least like one to try!
ReplyDeleteThat toilet seems almost blasphemous to me.
@adriane: Isn't it amazing how long all the things we love from that era have held up? But to think of them out in the elements for that long truly speaks to their quality.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing you have to be careful about when you switch out the bases is how much it will change the height of your chairs, because the rocker base is significantly shorter than the oritinal pedestal. Also, it's important to know if you need a narrow shockmount or not.
@moondoggie: I agree that there's something fundamentally wrong about that toilet seat...besides just being in poor taste. :)
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