Pair Vintage Herman Miller Eames Naugahyde Fiberglass Shell Chair Swivel Base 6
Item History & Price
I have for sale a Pair of Vintage Herman Miller off white fiberglass with light tan trim and black Naugahyde or off white fiberglass with darker tan trim and black Naugahyde. Price listed is for both Chairs.
These chairs are either from 1974 or 1982. Some have the date stamp on them of 1974 others have a date code of 1982 or the patent sticker states they are from the 80s.
All the shell chairs I have listed have the swivel base on them and some sort of blemishes in the Naug...ahyde. I took photos of groups of 2. I will be selling these in lots of two and they are marked each listing. The description is all the same for all of the listings so please refer to the photos.
I was researching in the past about how to repair these chairs and came across a great article I wanted to share. There was a photo attached on a green naugahyde chair with yellow electrical tape on it. Thought it was awesome.
Questions let me know. I have these as pick up but can disassemble and ship if you would like so if over seas let me know.
HOW TO REUPHOLSTER AN EAMES FIBERGLASS CHAIRFromtime to time, people with a 40- or 50-year-old upholstered Eames FiberglassChair ask me how to reupholster it. I pretty much always say, “Don’t. Patch itinstead.”It’sdifferent if you buy a new upholstered Eames Fiberglass Chair from Herman Miller. You’re in luck withthose because they have removable, recyclable upholstery pads—the first oftheir kind in more than 40 years.Unfortunately, vintageEames owners do not have this option. So why do I suggest a patch?First, no matter howtalented the upholsterers are, they usually don’t have access to the sameequipment as Herman Miller workers. Even if they did, they usually don’t havethe training and years of experience working with this unique upholstery. If they do have the skill set, re-upholstery is labor intensive and expensive.Another reason to patch avintage Eames chair is that it is congruent with the practices and beliefs ofCharles and Ray Eames.In an interview towardsthe end of Charles’s life, he said it was always his dream to have “well-darnedsocks.” Darned socks are socks with holes that have been re-sewn, usually avery noticeable repair. They function just as well as new socks.CarlaHartman, eldest Eames grandchild and Eames Office Education Director tell a similarstory about Ray: Two matrons were standing behind her at a cocktail party.Thinking they were out of earshot, one whispered to the other, “Oh, look atthat patch on Ray Eames’s cape. You’d think with all of the money Mr. Eamesmakes, he would buy his wife a new frock.” Well, he could, but he didn’t. Thedesign duo didn’t believe in throwing away things they liked. They believed inrepairing goods and continuing to use them.Thereis an ancient Japanese aesthetic philosophy called wabi sabi thatrelates to this idea of embracing the imperfect. In part, it’s about the beautyof transience and a celebration of how objects look after years of use. TheSmithsonian presented an exhibition that relates to this called Golden Seams. It explored the very visible yetbeautiful patches on prized Japanese ceramics and porcelain. You can read moreabout this exhibition here.Ifyou have a vintage upholstered Eames Fiberglass Chair witha hole or split seam, you can repair it by using matching or contrastingelectrical tape on Naugahyde or a patch on Hopsak. You will not be thefirst to do this.Thisis a photograph of an Eames Fiberglass Side Chair fromthe EamesFamily Collection.You’ll notice that thechair, which is a working model that Charles and Ray kept on hand as part oftheir study collection, had a hole in its original green Naugahyde upholstery.What did Charles and Ray do to fix it? They patched it with contrastingelectrical tape.You can do the same.
These chairs are either from 1974 or 1982. Some have the date stamp on them of 1974 others have a date code of 1982 or the patent sticker states they are from the 80s.
All the shell chairs I have listed have the swivel base on them and some sort of blemishes in the Naug...ahyde. I took photos of groups of 2. I will be selling these in lots of two and they are marked each listing. The description is all the same for all of the listings so please refer to the photos.
I was researching in the past about how to repair these chairs and came across a great article I wanted to share. There was a photo attached on a green naugahyde chair with yellow electrical tape on it. Thought it was awesome.
Questions let me know. I have these as pick up but can disassemble and ship if you would like so if over seas let me know.
HOW TO REUPHOLSTER AN EAMES FIBERGLASS CHAIRFromtime to time, people with a 40- or 50-year-old upholstered Eames FiberglassChair ask me how to reupholster it. I pretty much always say, “Don’t. Patch itinstead.”It’sdifferent if you buy a new upholstered Eames Fiberglass Chair from Herman Miller. You’re in luck withthose because they have removable, recyclable upholstery pads—the first oftheir kind in more than 40 years.Unfortunately, vintageEames owners do not have this option. So why do I suggest a patch?First, no matter howtalented the upholsterers are, they usually don’t have access to the sameequipment as Herman Miller workers. Even if they did, they usually don’t havethe training and years of experience working with this unique upholstery. If they do have the skill set, re-upholstery is labor intensive and expensive.Another reason to patch avintage Eames chair is that it is congruent with the practices and beliefs ofCharles and Ray Eames.In an interview towardsthe end of Charles’s life, he said it was always his dream to have “well-darnedsocks.” Darned socks are socks with holes that have been re-sewn, usually avery noticeable repair. They function just as well as new socks.CarlaHartman, eldest Eames grandchild and Eames Office Education Director tell a similarstory about Ray: Two matrons were standing behind her at a cocktail party.Thinking they were out of earshot, one whispered to the other, “Oh, look atthat patch on Ray Eames’s cape. You’d think with all of the money Mr. Eamesmakes, he would buy his wife a new frock.” Well, he could, but he didn’t. Thedesign duo didn’t believe in throwing away things they liked. They believed inrepairing goods and continuing to use them.Thereis an ancient Japanese aesthetic philosophy called wabi sabi thatrelates to this idea of embracing the imperfect. In part, it’s about the beautyof transience and a celebration of how objects look after years of use. TheSmithsonian presented an exhibition that relates to this called Golden Seams. It explored the very visible yetbeautiful patches on prized Japanese ceramics and porcelain. You can read moreabout this exhibition here.Ifyou have a vintage upholstered Eames Fiberglass Chair witha hole or split seam, you can repair it by using matching or contrastingelectrical tape on Naugahyde or a patch on Hopsak. You will not be thefirst to do this.Thisis a photograph of an Eames Fiberglass Side Chair fromthe EamesFamily Collection.You’ll notice that thechair, which is a working model that Charles and Ray kept on hand as part oftheir study collection, had a hole in its original green Naugahyde upholstery.What did Charles and Ray do to fix it? They patched it with contrastingelectrical tape.You can do the same.
