Chairs Designed by Charles Eames

This is the second of two postcards Charles and Ray Eames produced for Herman Miller in 1954 to promote their designs. Like the other example (Artifact # A.2019.1.031), this postcard was created to emphasize how each of the Eameses’ three furniture systems—the molded plywood, molded plastic, and upholstered wire chairs—offered “versatile solutions to contemporary seating problems.” Clockwise from the upper left, there is an upholstered fiberglass armchair with a one piece upholstery pad, or DAX-1, an upholstered PSC-1 side chair, an LCM molded plywood lounge chair with metal legs, and a DSR fiberglass side chair featuring an “Eiffel Tower” base. While the other postcard offers more colorful design configurations and backdrops, here a more reserved approach helps highlight the recently expanded offering of neutrals (as called out on the reverse). Each vignette was painstakingly constructed to best complement the individual design while also working as a unit. Travertine and rosewood tabletops (upper right, and lower left, respectively) are repurposed as backdrops while “humble materials,” such as hand-carved wooden spoons and houseplants humanize and add character to each vignette. Items such as the papier-mâché Japanese tiger toy known as Hariko-No-Tora, gourd-shaped Chinese paper lantern, and selection of antique German Springerle molds speak to the Eameses’ burgeoning international fame and interests.