Eames Miniature Plywood Elephant
Designed by Eames for Vitra
Every Vitra Miniature is true to the original in construction and materials. Reduced in size on a scale of 1:6, each miniature is packaged in a wooden box, accompanied by an informational booklet. Many hours of work are put into each hand crafted miniature piece. Making every piece individually unique! Ongoing quality control ensures that every miniature corresponds to its larger original in terms of finishing, details and materials.
The Plywood Elephant holds a prominent place among the plywood pieces designed by the Eameses. In the early 1940s Charles and Ray Eames successfully developed an innovative method for moulding plywood into three-dimensional shapes, which they used to produce a wide range of furniture and sculptural objects. Among the early plywood designs, the Elephant is one of the most difficult to produce. Tight angles and compound curves require a sophisticated mastery of plywood technology.
For over two decades, the Vitra Design Museum has been making miniature replicas of milestones in furniture design from its collection. The Miniatures Collection encapsulates the entire history of industrial furniture design – moving from Historicism and Art Nouveau to the Bauhaus and New Objectivity, from Radical Design and Postmodernism all the way up to the present day. Exactly one sixth the size of the original item.
- Scale: 1:6, 137 x 140 x 138 mm
- Material: bent plywood, cast aluminium and leather cushions
About the Designer:
Husband and wife team Charles (1907-1978) and Ray (1912-1988) Eames played a major role in the world of modern architecture and furniture, as well as working in industrial and graphic design, fine art, and film. Charles completed two years of study at Washington University in St. Louis. With his design and life partner Ray, he designed prize-winning furniture that expanded upon the wood molding techniques of Alvar Aalto. Ray-Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames began as an abstract expressionist painter, having graduated from Bennett Women's College in Millbrook, NY and later studying under Hans Hoffman while living in New York City. She co-founded the American Abstract Artists and has a painting in the Whitney museum's permanent collection.
