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Showing posts with label Charles and Ray Eames. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles and Ray Eames. Show all posts

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Wire Base Side Table from Inmod

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by Inmod and asked to review a piece of furniture from their new Origins line, and I agreed to do so.

Today I received the Wire Base Side Table, which is Inmod's reproduction of the Charles and Ray Eames Wire Base Low Table. I must say that it is quite faithful to the original design in dimension (H 10" x W 15.5" x D 13.25") and appearance. The table was designed to be stackable or used side-by-side as a low coffee table, and because of its size, I think that would almost be necessary. Alone it could look awkwardly small, unless paired with just the right size chair or sofa.

As soon as I lifted it from the box (fully assembled, incidentally), I immediately noted its substantial weight. The layered plywood top with flat melamine surface is extremely attractive, as is the sturdy wire base. The workmanship is impressive, and the Inmod price of $179 (currently on sale for $99) is more economical than the licensed table produced by Herman Miller and sold for $205 (or Design Within Reach's $215 for the Herman Miller version), especially since, as far as I can tell, there is virtually no difference in the products. Like the tables offered by the other retailers, Inmod's table is available in black or white.

The original Eames design was inspired by the low profile of Japanese furnishings, and, according to the DWR site, was used in the Eames home for a tea ceremony including Isamu Noguchi and Charlie Chaplin.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with Inmod's Wire Base Side Table. It will go upstairs in my grandsons' gameroom, where it will fit perfectly between two low-slung kids' chairs. If this piece is representative of their classic mid-century Origins line, I can't wait to see more!





Note:  I partnered with Inmod for this post and was encouraged to provide an objective review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Monday, November 3, 2014

For kids: Eames elephant

In 1945, Charles and Ray Eames came up with an idea for a menagerie of plywood animals that included an elephant, a frog, a seal, a bear, and a horse. Unfortunately, only the elephant made it to the prototype stage, and it proved to be too difficult and costly to mass produce. The two prototypes were displayed at the Museum of Modern Art from 1945-1946, and the only one that survives today is in the care of the Eames family.

In 2007, Vitra released a limited edition of the plywood elephant in natural and red stained maple. All 2000 sold out immediately at $1900 each, turning them into instant collector's items. In 2009, Vitra released a second series of the elephants in plastic. They are available in white, light pink, ice gray, classic red, and dark lime and are currently priced at $330.

From vitra.com and nikkiikkin.com


One of the two original prototypes
nikkiikkin.com

Vitra plywood Eames elephants
miniaturechairman.com

Vitra plastic Eames elephants
vitra.com

Thursday, October 2, 2014

For kids: Eames House of Cards

Charles and Ray Eames took play seriously, and their most successful toy was a set of colorful cards that could be built into three-dimensional structures. The sets, created in 1952, are still being made and are available in small, medium and large sizes.


monpetit-art.com

Charles Eames with House of Cards
miniaturechairman.com

Monday, July 21, 2014

Prototypes

One of my favorite blogs is Forthzine by Jonas Forth. I mentioned one of his posts the other day, and I'm sharing another one today. He has collected photos of designers building or examining prototypes of their well-known pieces, and it's truly amazing to feel like you've had a glimpse at the inception of an icon.

Again, I encourage you to check out the entire post for yourself. I'll just show you a few of my favorites.

All images from jonasforth.com


Charles and Ray Eames - La Chaise, 1948

Hans Wegner - Papa Bear Chair, 1950

Florence Knoll and Eero Saarinen - Tulip Table base, 1955

Arne Jacobsen - Egg Chair, 1958

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

In the store: Aalto, Eames and Anybody's Guess

We've added some great tables to our inventory recently, some that have history and some that are a mystery. First are a pair of fan-legged bentwood tables by Alvar Aalto for Artek. Their beautiful detail is somewhat different from the simplicity most of us expect from the designer.


Alvar Aalto fan-legged side tables

Close-up of Aalto table leg


More great tables in the store are the two Eames LTR (Low Table Rod). They're as angular and spare as the Aalto tables are curvy, offering a different take on modern design.



Eames LTR tables


Finally, we have an unmarked Danish table in rosewood, so who the designer is for this piece is anybody's guess right now. If you know, fill us in. Still, it has great legs and sleek styling, and I'm quite taken with it.  My coffee table has begun to take a bit of a beating from active grandsons, and this might be a suitable replacement, as it's very similar to the one I have.



Danish rosewood coffee table

Monday, April 14, 2014

The Do-Nothing Machine and other Eames toys

Charles and Ray Eames believed in taking pleasure seriously. Linda Cervon, who grew up in their neighborhood, recalled that Charles Eames would suspend ropes from the ceiling of his studio so neighborhood kids could swing on them, knocking down cardboard structures he had built.

Charles and Ray are known for their furniture designs and architecture, but they were serious toymakers too. One of the most interesting of these was their solar Do-Nothing Machine. Designed in 1957, it was described in Life magazine as a "twirling, tinkling toy run by sunlight." It was made of aluminum strips and silicon cells which generated enough electricity to set the machine in motion. The Eames Office originally asked Cal Poly for help on the project, but instead the university sent a team to see what the couple had already achieved. As it turned out, this toy that did nothing at all was a forerunner of today's solar powered machines.


Charles Eames with the Do-Nothing Machine
life.time.com


Notice at 1:31 in the video that follows that there was a part of the Do-Nothing Machine shaped very much like one of the Eames Walnut Stools.


The Do-Nothing Machine in action
youtube.com - Uploaded Aug 1, 2013 by the Eames Office


Take a look at several other toys created by Charles and Ray Eames, and let the child in you be delighted.


Plywood elephant
architectmagazine.com

Bird costume
eamesdesigns.com

Giraffe costume
eamesdesigns.com

Rooster costume
eamesdesigns.com

Kids playing in an Eames construction
eamesdesigns.com

Charles Eames working on a design assembled with pipe cleaners
eamesdesigns.com

Prototype of The Toy
weekenderonline.wordpress.com

Ad for The Toy
eamesdesigns.com

Charles Eames and a House of Cards set
monpetitart-boutique.com

Charles and Ray Eames making a film featuring their creations
wn.com

Friday, April 11, 2014

Lucia Eames (1930-2014)

Lucia Eames, daughter of Charles Eames and his first wife Catherine Woermann, died on April 1, 2014, at the age of 83.

After divorcing Woermann, Charles Eames married Ray Kaiser, with whom Lucia became very close. When Ray Eames died, ten years to the day after the passing of Charles Eames, Lucia took on the responsibility for the design legacy of Charles and Ray Eames at Ray's request. She was owner of the Eames Office for 26 years, and in the early 1990s she passed operational authority to the next generation of Eames family members.

In 1988 she gave an important collection of the Eames Archives materials to the Library of Congress, in accordance with the wishes of her father and stepmother. In 2004, she established the Eames Foundation to oversee the Eames House in Pacific Palisades, California.

From eamesfoundation.org


Three generations of the Eames family (Lucia at far left with Ray, Charles and four of her children)
designobserver.com

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Eames walnut stools

In 1959 the Time-Life Building held the record for being the largest slab-formed skyscraper in New York. It was an ultra-modern sensation and featured a lobby with murals by Joseph Albers and Frits Glarner, as well as chairs by Charles Eames.


Eames lobby chairs
dailyicon.net


In 1960 Ray Eames was asked to design occasional pieces for that lobby to complement the chairs designed by her husband. Relying on her training as a sculptor, she created these walnut stools, which she also used throughout the house she shared with her husband.

From hermanmiller.com


Walnut stools by Ray Eames for Time-Life Building
hermanmiller.com

hermanmiller.com

hermanmiller.com

Charles and Ray Eames
ottowagner.com

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Room screens

I love room screens. I've never been able to figure out why I'm so fascinated by them, but I've worked them into my decorating scheme on and off...sometimes successfully, other times a little clumsily...ever since I had my first apartment.

Screens require the right type of space, as well as the right amount of space, in order to fit seamlessly into a room. Otherwise, the look seems contrived. But when they're well designed and placed in just the right spot, they're magical.


Screen by Greta Magnusson Grossman for Glenn of California, in situ
r20thcentury.com

Greta Magnusson Grossman screen
wright20.com

Eileen Gray in her rue de Bonaparte apartment with a Block Screen
designmuseum.org

Eileen Gray Block Screen
pedrosilman.com

Eileen Gray Block screen in white
1stdibs.com

Eames folding plywood screen
designquest.biz

Eames folding plywood screen
1stdibs.com

Alvar Aalto room screen
bonluxat.com

Alvar Aalto screen
1stdibs.com


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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Vitra trays

The last few days, my posts have morphed into a public wish list. It started innocently enough with my finding pictures of Howard Smith birds, and then I did a post about a collection of Vitra miniature chairs, which led me deeper down the rabbit hole of must-haves.

I might as well let out all the stops and post about all the things I've found the last few days that have gone on my To Buy list. Today it's all about trays in patterns by George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames and Alexander Girard.

I'm torn between the first two, but the other two are equally delightful.


Classic tray: China Shop by George Nelson
vitra.com

Classic tray: The Family by Charles and Ray Eames
vitra.com

Classic tray: Sea Things by Charles and Ray Eames
vitra.com

Classic tray: Eden by Alexander Girard
vitra.com

Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Films of Charles and Ray Eames

Charles and Ray Eames are two of the most famous American designers of the 20th century. They are most widely known for their furniture and architecture, but they were also photographers and filmmakers, creating around 100 short films on a multitude of topics that fascinated them.

The films range from the lives and times of great inventors to toy trains and tops, sea creatures and computers. Their friend Elmer Bernstein wrote the scores for over thirty of the films.

A six-volume box set of these films, entitled The Films of Charles & Ray Eames, is available at an incredibly reasonable cost. Design Within Reach has the set for $80, and the Vitra Design Museum Shop has it for 89€.


dwr.com


And just for fun, here's my favorite photo of Charles and Ray Eames. Most of the images we usually see of them are at a later stage in their lives. I love this one, because it captures their youth and playfulness.


Charles and Ray Eames, 1941
eamesoffice.com

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Growing up at 205 Chautauqua

I recently ran across an interesting article in the Eames Library. It was written by Linda Cervon about growing up in the Case Study House #9, right next door to Ray and Charles Eames.

Cervon's parents bought the house from John Entenza, the editor of Arts & Architecture magazine, who was the original owner. The house was designed for Entenza by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. Cervon's parents paid $55,000 for the house in 1955.


Case Study House #9
dailyicon.net

Case Study House #9 living room
dailyicon.net

Case Study House #9 patio
eamesdesign.com

Case Study House #9
archigraphie.eu


In the article,  Cervon talks about what good neighbors Ray and Charles Eames were...how Charles would build structures out of cardboard boxes in his studio and let the neighborhood kids swing on ropes suspended from beams in the studio ceiling to knock them down. She discussed how refined and elegant Ray was and how much Ray influenced her.

She also discussed life surrounded by the major architects of the time (and even her dating the son of Rodney Walker and, after the death of her mother, her father's dating the ex-wife of Craig Ellwood.) She also recalls her "wicked stepmother" insisting on some rather horrible changes to Case Study House #9.

Cervon is well known in some circles as the godmother of Disney memorabilia collectors, so she is an interesting character in her own right.


Linda Cervon
vcreporter.com


If you're as interested as I am in the early owners of the Case Study Houses, I recommend this brief article. For such a quick read, it offers fascinating insight into what it was like to grow up one of the homes that we so admire.