Know Your Eames

antiques.about.com (provided by Richard Wright)

I ran across an interesting article by Troy Segal entitled "Know Your Eames," which he wrote after interviewing Richard Wright of the Wright auction house. The article offered nine suggestions on how to recognize Eames pieces, as well as how to evaluate what they might be worth.

The article is very helpful if you're new to searching for Eames pieces, because it shows you several labels to look for and gives tips on what makes one Eames piece more valuable than another.

It also suggests several other sources of information about Charles and Ray Eames, including Eames Design: The Work of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames by Marilyn & John Neuhart and Ray Eames (Harry N. Abrams, 1989), the Eames Office website, run by Charles’s grandson, and the Herman Miller website.

I'm eager to buy the two-volume Neuhart book The Story of Eames Furniture (Gestalten, 2010), which has 800 pages containing more than 2,500 images. I'm sure this book will soon be considered the final authority on everything Eames. (See my post about the book, as well as a video interview with Marilyn and John Neuhart.)

Fiberglass RAR (Rocking Armchair Rod base) rocker
1stdibs.com

RAR Rocker Zeeland label
1stdibs.com

LAR (Lounge Armchair Rod) upholstered fiberglass chair
1stdibs.com

LAR chair label with Herman Miller logo
1stdibs.com

The Story of Eames Furniture

I just realized that this is my third post about books in four days. In my "other life" before retirement, I was an English teacher and a librarian, so please bear with me for getting so excited when new books come out or when I discover old ones.

That said, I have a feeling that many of you are just as thrilled as I am about this one. The two-volume, 800-page book The Story of Eames Furniture by Marilyn Neuhart with her husband John, came out in September of this year.

The couple met Charles Eames in 1952 and worked in the Eames Office in various capacities, getting to know Charles and Ray Eames and the other designers in the firm. They have also looked after the home of Charles and Ray Eames since their deaths and have supervised the Eames Archives, which gives them a unique perspective on the subject.

The book contains more than 2,500 images, including photos of an amazing 1:48 scale model of the Eames Office made by John Neuhart, which is accurate down to the chairs and books that were in the actual building.

Gestalten has made the following video interview with Marilyn and John Neuhart available, and it offers tremendous insight into the personality of Charles Eames and others in the firm, as well as the dynamics of the Eames Office.


From gestalten.com

Gestalten.tv is proud to present an exclusive video interview with Marilyn Neuhart, author of The Story of Eames Furniture, and her husband John. Both have worked with the Eames Office in various capacities from the 1950s. Having been in close proximity to Charles and Ray Eames as well as the members of the Eames Office and their patron manufacturers for almost 30 years, the Neuharts had the extraordinary opportunity to absorb their stories. At their Los Angeles home, they tell the tale of working with Charles Eames in Gestalten.tv's latest look behind the Eames.

The Story of Eames Furniture by Marilyn Neuhart with John Neuhart
gestalten.com

Page preview from The Story of Eames Furniture by Marilyn Neuhart with John Neuhart
gestalten.com

You can read more about the book The Story of Eames Furniture, see more page previews or order the book on the Gestalten site.  You may want to put it on your holiday wish list, because it sells for $150, but for an endeavor of this magnitude, I'm sure it will be worth every penny.  (According to Marilyn Neuhart, the book was 15 years in the making, and John's model of the Eames Office took 10 years to complete.)


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