Charles & Ray Eames, Aluminium Chair EA124 for Herman Miller

CHARLES EAMES (USA, 1907 - 1978) & RAY EAMES (USA, 1912 - 1988) for Herman Miller.
Aluminium Chair EA124, design 1950-1955.
Upholstered in white leatherette (PU). Steel frame.
Stamped and numbered Herman Miller.
The chair has patina and signs of wear.
Measurements: 101 x 64 x 75 cm. Seat height: 43 cm.

The Aluminium Chair EA 124 is the par excellence lounge chair model of the Aluminium Group by Charles and Ray Eames. Its superb comfort is due to the extraordinarily high backrest and headrest cushion together with the tilting mechanism that can be adjusted to the weight of the user. It is a swivel chair.

Now considered a classic of 20th century design, the Aluminum Chair by Charles and Ray Eames was created in 1958 and has been in continuous production ever since. It was created for a private home in Columbus, USA, built by architects Saarinen and Girard. In the Aluminium Chair, the Eameses adapted the shape of the seat to the structure of the chair itself by stretching the fabric or leather between the two parts of the structure, thus making it rigid, but maintaining its elasticity. This elastic form allows it to adapt easily to the contours of the body, gradually, thus increasing the comfort of the seat.
Charles and Ray Eames, a married couple and artistic couple, worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine arts and film, and are responsible for numerous designs that have become classics of the 20th century. Charles Eames studied architecture for two years at the University of Washington, then began his career working in a studio on residential housing projects. In 1938 he moved to Cranbrook, Michigan, to continue studying architecture and design at the city's Academy of Art. He would eventually teach there, heading the industrial design department. Together with Eero Saarinen, the son of his teacher Eliel Saarinen, he designed the trophy for the Organic Design Award, given by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1941, after divorcing his first wife, he married his colleague at Cranbrook, Ray Kaiser. Together they settled in Los Angeles, where they would remain for the rest of their lives. In the late 1940s, Ray and Charles designed their home together, known as the "Eames House," now considered a masterpiece of modern architecture. In the 1950s the couple continued to work in architecture and furniture design, pioneering the use of new techniques and materials such as fiberglass and plastic resin in the manufacture of chairs. They are currently represented in the Design Museum in London and the MoMA in New York, among many others.