Herman Miller Eames Plywood Dining Chair, Metal Legs
designed by Charles and Ray Eames
This is a slightly modified version of the iconic Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair. These chairs are an elegant, unique, and totally off the beaten path selection for the traditional American dining room. The seat of the chair is more level and set higher than the original version, which is more of a side chair or a living room/den type. But all the elegance, all the technical brilliance of the molded plywood design, and all the built up history and justified hype of the Eames name still remain. And that means this is a legitimately great chair. A lovely compliment to any dining room table, and a truly historic design story.
And it's available in more than one size and shape. The original Eames Plywood Lounge Chair, noted in their catalogue as the LCW, is still in production and still as popular and available as ever. But as the modern world has changed, there have been new additions to the LCW family. For instance, you can now buy a chair with metal legs. This has the effect of slimming the chair, and making it fit in a little better with a contemporary or very modern room or home. It also gives the chair a bit of contrast in material, which the original doesn't have, being made completely of molded plywood.
The original Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair is close to the ground. In fact, many people make the mistake of thinking the traditional LCW notation refers to "low chair" and not "lounge chair." Many people feel a bit awkward trying to sit in the chair when it's lower in proportion to some of their other furniture, like a table or a lamp, and to correct for that possible problem there are now metal leg versions of the chair that get you a bit higher off the ground.
Going even further toward making the Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair variable and flexible, there are versions with slightly different angles of recline and slightly varied curves and contours. Every version of the chair is meant to accept and cradle the human form, keeping them comfortable even atop a hard surface like plywood. Overall, Herman Miller and Charles and Ray Eames showed a remarkable willingness to keep experimenting and playing with a design that was so immediately popular and iconic; there are few designers, and few companies, that have the were-withal to adjust an already popular design. But Charles and Ray Eames, and Herman Miller, are cut from a different cloth than the average furniture company, and the average interior and industrial designer.
The Herman Miller Eames Molded Plywood Dining Chair is also known by the following Manufacturer Item Numbers: DCM.,DCM.AV, DCM.OU, DCM.CX, DCM.11, DCM.15, DCM.9N.
Materials:
Molded plywood with natural face veneers. Hardwood inner plies, 5-ply seat and back. Polished chrome-plated legs and self-leveling nylon glides.
Dimensions:
Overall: 29.5" h x 20.5" w x 20.5" d
Seat height: 17.5"
Distinctive Design
Sculpted form. Molding thin sheets of lightweight veneer into gently curved shapes gives the hard material a soft, inviting appearance.
Leg choice. Chrome-plated steel.
A Shape That Sits Well
Natural contours. The five-ply seat and back are designed to comfortably fit the body.
Shock mounts. Made of resilient natural rubber to absorb movement.
In the early 1940s, when Charles Eames was working on MGM set designs, he would return to the small apartment where he and his wife, Ray, were experimenting with wood-molding techniques that would have profound effects on the design world.
Their discoveries led to a commission from the U.S. Navy in 1942 to develop plywood splints, stretchers, and glider shells molded under heat and pressure.
After World War II, they adapted the technology to create inexpensive, high-quality chairs that could be mass-produced. The process eliminated the extraneous wood needed to connect the seat with the back, which reduced the weight and visual profile of the chair and established a basis for modern furniture design. The chair is in the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Herman Miller and Charles and Ray Eames had a lasting collaboration that resulted in some of the great furniture of the modern American scene. From the Eames Lounge Chair to the Hang-It-All, their contributions to design have been unique and uniquely stellar. But it all started with the clever, deceptively simple, beautiful and challenging Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair. Smart Furniture is very proud to now have a role to play in this legendary partnership, and be able to sell this chair to our customers with the approval of Herman Miller and the Eames family. Get your Eames Molded Plywood Chair, whether it be a dining room version or a version with metal legs, today.
This is the design that put Charles and Ray Eames on the map, and that became the first entry on their unbelievably accomplished resume. This is the chair that has stood the test of time in schools, homes and office all around the country, that has delighted children and adults alike. A design that has inspired films, books and hundreds of magazine articles. A design that has stood in museums for more than 60 years, and that set the agenda for all the lounge chairs that came after it. A chair that has been constantly produced and constantly bought by an adoring public since it was introduced in 1946 by Herman Miller. This a chair, in short, that is nothing less than extraordinary in the world of design and interior furnishings. It has lasted, it has flourished, and it is available now at Smart Furniture.
Read the Eames Plywood Chairs' Design Story.
Care & Maintenance
For more care and maintenance instructions please use the care and maintenance link that will take you directly to the Herman Miller Website.
Herman Miller Warranty
This warranty is a promise that lives up to the highest standards in the industry. If for some reason the product fails to live up to this standard, Herman Miller will ship and repair it at no cost to you. To learn more read the Herman Miller Warranty.
