In a blog post about ""Whimsical Works," the Eames-does-kidstuff show last year at UPenn, the show's installer, architect Donna Sink, mentioned a children's plywood chair:
One very rare object we were able to get for the show is an early child's chair made of molded plywood, like the famous bent plywood lounges of the Eames, but child-sized - it is absolutely the cutest piece I furniture I have ever seen. When it came out of the crate I could not stop giggling and cooing over it - a mother can't resist!My first thought was, "You must mean that plywood chair that Vitra tried producing for a year in 1945." But no, it's there in the picture, all tiny and awesome-like.
And though the UPenn show's website--giant jpgs of the brochure, and as such, unindexable by search engines--mentions a two-piece plywood children's chair as the first ever to go to market, it blurs it together with the one-piece Vitra model.
Now, my Eames books are in another city at the moment, but I'd never heard of a child-sized LCW. If anyone has a pic or a scan access to the Neuharts catalogue, by all means, throw it out there. And if anyone has Eames Demetrios on speed dial, tell him to get off his kiester and start licensing. Because if this so-so-looking Eames children's chair is $7,500, I don't want to know what a vintage children's LCW costs. [Actually, I do.]
Sink Eames [fallonandrossof.com]
Previously: looks like some of those kid-size shell chairs you didn't buy on ebay were in the show, too
What they really need to make is a tiny little Eames Lounge Chair (the bent ply and leather one), with a tiny little ottoman. I can just picture a kid kicking back on it after a long day playing or whatever. But considering the full size one is $3000, and even the Vitra miniature scale model is almost $600, I'm probably picturing someone else's kid.
[lol, or you could just print it on a Onesie for a couple of bucks and be done with it. -ed.]
I must have left my Eames books in the 760Li.
just call and have it brought around front.
The classic 1945 Eames designed child's chair (with heart-shaped cut out) was produced by the Evans Product company. Other than the leg splint, the child's chair was the first mass-produced (by the tens of thousands) product by the Eames Office. They came in red, blue, yellow and natural un-dyed versions. I think Vitra might be re-releasing it, but they were also supposed to be re-issuing the molded plywood elephant. And so far, I haven't seen either.
There have been only a handful of child-sized LCWs known to exist. Apparently, Charles and the dudes in the Office were toying with the idea and bent up a few prototypes. They were never put into production. There was one on eBay a few weeks ago:
I don't think there is any mention of a child's LCW in any of the books.
[interesting. the dates on this ebay LCW don't match up too well to the Eames story, but still. It only went for $1,175?? For one of a handful? here's a picture, btw. -ed]
Vitra does indeed produce the Eames kids set with the heart cut-outs, but they are not sold in the US. Herman-Miller, I'm told, pretty much has all US Eames rights sown up...including for the children's furniture.
The Eames Children's Chair has just gone back in production -- here it is:
http://www.twentytwentyone.com/displayProduct.asp?ProductID=100