The Full Story
Today, the Eames Lounger and Ottoman is one of the most recognised and admired pieces of furniture of the 20th century, occupying many illustrious living rooms, studies, lounges and dens – and a permanent place in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Ironic, since Ray Eames first reaction to the chair was to tell her husband that it looked “comfortable and un-designy”.
Perhaps because of its illustrious first recipient, the Eames Lounger and Ottoman was the first chair the Eames designed for a high-end market. Like most of the work they created for the famed Herman Miller Furniture Company, it began with plywood – in this case, three curved plywood shells created from several thin layers of wood veneer. But unlike previous Eames creations, the Lounger and matching Ottoman were upholstered in thick, comfortable leather. The Lounge Chair stands out among their work for its unabashed luxury and meticulous handcrafting.
The Eames Lounger and Ottoman have spent most of their fifty-plus years in the spotlight. After brightening Billy Wilder’s birthday, they appeared on NBC television on Arlene Francis’s “Home” show. They also graced the apartment of the ever-discerning Frasier Crane, and starred in a famous advertising campaign that placed the chair and ottoman in various settings including a Victorian parlor, the middle of a hayfield, and on the porch of an “American Gothic” style house complete with pea-shelling grandma.
No doubt it will look just as natural in your home.