SNAKE LORE 002: Eames
Prices, values and a reevaluation of the best and harshest items from the ur-American designers
Snake is a design intelligence newsletter…
Today, the second installment of LORE: focus on one designer (or movement) including important pieces, rough market values, where to get newer repros, second-tier items, knock-offs, etc. This one is EAMES… because, why not? As always, upcoming auctions (on LiveAuctioneers) are featured, at bottom. But first, housekeeping:
Housekeeping:
Still in Paris on my writing residency. In addition to the non-newsletter/byline work I am in the midst of, I am amassing enough second- and third-tier sportswear to pass myself off as a tertiary Levantine character from Zero Dark Thirty.
Haircuts in Paris are $7, and you can buy a 200 sq. foot apartment in many neighborhoods for 100K, but you have to be French for one of them.
Because I’ve been getting three haircuts a week, everyone here thinks I’m French, except when I wear my neon orange Westside Barbell shirt (with the dog on both sides).
I wrote about set design and costuming in HBO’s Tokyo Vice for GQ the other week, and the ways in which the show is visually immersive (esp. the pilot, which Michael Mann directed). The New Yorker profile about the reporter, from about a decade ago, headline “All Due Respect,” is one of the best the magazine has published, I think.
I finished HEAT 2 last month. It’s not bad. Email me for spoilers, or if you’ve read it. No one else has read it except Erik so I have no one to discuss it with, as we’ve already discussed it at length.
I also interviewed Bear Grylls about his diet and exercise habits for GQ—the news of his animal-based diet was, in a word, breaking, and became subsequently aggregated widely by competing news organizations, and shared with alacrity by several very important micro-celebrities in the dark fitness space. Including an anonymous account who loves red meat, another that hates canola oil, and the shirtless doctor with the crazy eyes. Grylls and I eat fairly identically… not bad!
LORE: Eames
Charles and Ray Eames (on the Kawasaki above) were designers (he’s from St. Louis) who established their practice in Venice, Calif. in the 40s. It shined for decades and many pieces outlive both them and their movement. They started their careers after winning a MoMA design contest—Chuck made a one-piece chair with Saarinen that they couldn’t reproduce at scale—and then a splint for the army, and eventually many, many items, with the domestic license belonging to Herman Miller, with Vitra overseas. Just about everything they made is still in production, in one form or another.
At the peak of their powers, Eames moonlit (children’s flipbook, an IBM thing at the world’s fair) with an energy rivaled only by Ted Talks and their old head Le Corbusier, and became, in that time, and now, the brand most associated with mid-century modern, a furniture style which, as a term, is misused but which roughly began as a design philosophy, or market philosophy, focused on delivering affordable, ornamentation-free furniture to young couples and families, inspired aesthetically mostly by Nordic wood designers in the 30s, and Corbusier. (Very, very roughly.)
As a retro furniture movement, MCM was always collectible—prices began rising significantly in the late ‘80s—and became very coveted in the 2000s when Gen X people who grew up around it finally began to get money. In the past few years MCM and Eames have become a bit old hat, for a few reasons.
For one, the meant-to-be-affordable items are not very: new retail models require some saving up for, and some collectible items go for a ton. We’re also living in an age where more people know a little about furniture than they have ever before. Much of this knowledge is very recent—a few years—and it is built around the aesthetic that followed Eames and MCM—wild-ass Italian shit, plastic, Miami, post-regency, whatever, from the 70s and 80s—and therefore this new education must ignore it. In other words, people who have just been getting into furniture now—which is most people into furniture—see Eames as expensive, not creative.
Eames’ items themselves haven’t changed: they’re as good as anything, and as good as ever. The best ones are brutal and strong, or just simply undeniably minimal and pretty, and always have been. What’s more, prices have dropped across the board on just about every Eames item. Not so much on newer retail models, which are in fact more expensive, but in auctions and at estate sales. This is a market opportunity.
Now, I’m not saying change your mind on Eames, but not liking Eames is a sign of furniture immaturity, and may keep you from having very nice pieces in your home for not a lot of money. Because their output was so massive, and so good for so long, there are pieces, I think, for everyone. Not all of them are good (boat table… awful), but the best ones are tough, severe and direct, and if you’re willing to overlook the association with whatever MCM means to you, and a handful of their more tired pieces of furniture, then there is a lot to win here.
Eames’ best pieces are altogether of themselves, and look new still, and while they don’t transcend their era, they stretch it. They place well against wilder avant-garde pieces or things from different eras. You can get one or a bunch. The non-furniture equivalent to Eames may be the Beatles, who are both much better and more evil a band than popularly considered.
Key items:
Lounge Chair:
Obviously. 1956, Herman Miller, traditional black leather and maplewood, originally offered for a birthday gift for film director Billy Wilder (not bad!). The most immediate instance of Eames’ design: both strong (width, base) and perfect organic shape (the lean), and aspirational, but not very adorned. Older chairs have five layers of plywood, newer ones seven, all have their screws hidden; they can be dated by quality (old ones better, but all are made well) and by the stickers on the bottom (scroll to the end of the email for a pic)… I wouldn’t go much newer than mid-90s, which gets you patina, and mutes the style a bit. A lounger as a centerpiece is perhaps overdone, but if you go to enough auctions you’ll eventually run across one for cheap… in person, they are something, and most people who see one, if they can, get one. More info on dating here
Identifying dimensions:
Labels (first 3 rows pre-70s):
Retail was $3500 forever, and is double now. Because everyone knows and can identify this chair, deals are rare; prices hover around retail. Still, you can luck out more now than before. People don’t go after loungers anymore, but had them for a while, and, as always, get divorced or leave New York overnight, and will unburden themselves cheap on Craigslist or through auction below retail—a few ended below $3,000 this year on LA. A friend bought one a couple years ago for under $1,000 but had to sell it because he couldn’t get the cigarette smell out.
Also, if you get a beat up chair—the best ones—they’re cheaper, since auction houses don’t value them. (This is a mistake, and is like how worn in jeans used to be cheap until APC/Levi’s did the Butler program…) There are also off-colors: green, white, red, cream, blue leather, pink even. (White is hideous...) Not sure about those, though mocha is nice. New ones are exactly $6,500… cheapest on 1stDibs all seem to be around that, but those prices are for interior design professionals, and inflated, and so if you offer very low they might take it; LA has a few up now for half current retail.
BUY if under $2,400, flip a coin under $3,500, roll the dice if around retail; too much otherwise.
Eames Storage Unit
Comes in many sizes and iterations, the desk (changed to EDU) and other ESUs in different heights. (100, 200, 300 and 400 series, the centenary number distinguishing height.) Major difference in eras here: Current models are not too bad retail—3K here in Europe, and they look great—but have no patina, and a little less character than the originals (started early ‘50s). They also feel, to me, an eyelash off in angles and leg width and so on. Older models have a few different designs; the first era (420-N) look like what we have now (U pulls, similar legs), and there are other models, separated by a couple years:
The pic above from a HM catalog from ‘51. Lots of collectors for these, lots of depth, but… almost everyone who wants one has one. You can’t beat the original ESUs. I understand the desire to move away from Eames Loungers: they’re great chair, but overwhelming unless styled just so. But ESUs are bogh louder and more anonymous (even with the colors)… and more rare. Plus, fewer faked ESUs.
Older models look older—spotting and colors and marks, and have different feet. (Dating the feet is the quickest way to ID an old ESU.) Deals abound. An old model from the 50s went for $1,300 in an auction before the pandemic and I saw this chick on IG find one on Craigslist before then (furniture dark ages) for no money. Usually when things are too good to be true, they are, not so with ESUs.
BUY if under $2,000, flip a coin if under $5,000 (must be old as hell), roll the dice if more; other 400 models that look less like the new ones available in retail now, or which are in insane condition, will go for more.
Exec/office chairs
Not so much a genus, more of an informal category. There are a few of these. Soft pads have bigger cushions, other ones can be taller. There are also the swivel base chairs (below), with side chair tops or shell tops, and the Time/Life series, which is a little more stout. The execs are, I think, the best office chairs out there. Everything that came after is too technical, and the great/wild Italian chairs from the 60s and 70s are hard to find and can break.
Prices vary, some are worth more than $5-600 if they have character. Many fakes: for the executives, look for arms that go all the way around (fake Eames’ arms don’t ride the seat body)—for everything, check stickers.
For swivels, there are even more variations, with many upholstered, so there’s a variety of colors. You can throw a rock on Craigslist and find 100, but both items are advanced purchases because of the fakes.
BUY if under $400, flip a coin over $500, buy for yourself over $699—subtract $120 for swivel chairs.
Eames Screen
No one kind of leaves the room to change clothes anymore, though they did in old movies. Consequently, these screens have a coromandel screen/regency vibe. So, not for everyone. Though my favorite Eames thing is this 1/2 height screen (pictured above). I’ve only seen one, an auction which sold a few years ago. At under 3’ high, it’s Eames’ most pointless, if not abstract design: it’s barely tall enough to hide your socks from your landlord.
Real screens are taller… older ones look better, black is best as it has the smallest footprint. They are distinctly MCM and not a crossover piece, but they’re also going for nothing now; these used to sell for four/five large eight nine years ago.
BUY if under $1,200, flip a coin under $1,600, buy for yourself if over $2,000. Double these prices for half-sized.
Three-Seat Sofa
The least heralded and perhaps, all told, strongest Eames piece is this last-ever designed item from the Eames Office, a truly baroque item… their Querelle. It nails everything. Same lean as the Lounger, same tough legs as the tables (below)… combining them into something peerless…. there is no sofa like this. It looks like a muscle car, could be in a Yakuza movie… in production from Herman Miller (13.5K)… and quite excellent, though can be found much cheaper on auctions. Many sold this year for $4,000, a few last year for three. The above, with two cushions, is more rare. The best.
BUY if under $3,000, flip a coin at $4,200, for yourself if over $5,000.
Odds and Ends:
Dining Table:
Very, very brutal, more of an office aesthetic. The least bourgeois furniture item by the most bourgeois designers who worked in America’s glory days. Dining tables as a genus are very expensive, buy this one if under $1,500, though it’s worth much more.
Compact Sofa
Perhaps the best deal in American furniture right now. The Compact (from the 60s) is better and cheaper than just about any other sofa out there. Loveseat size (72”) and completely upright, it’s not that big. Many color combinations. People don’t give a shit about this couch: You can find one for $1,000 today, half that if you’re patient (the one pictured sold on LA this year for $300), and if you want one in showroom shape or with an odd color combo—lots of cool upholstery options—then $3,000 will get you anything. It’s weird. The compact is not very different aesthetics-wise from the Herman Miller Chiclet—simple, minimal, loud, fun—and both used to go for about $1,500 three years ago. Now some Chiclets run near $10,000 and Compacts got cheaper. Deal of the decade, better and cheaper than most couches most people own… one of the best.
LCM Chair
Not a fan of these, but because of stickers they are dateable, and some have gone for as little as $3-400 this year. A few went for less but can’t be positive they’re real; I’m not interested enough to really dig.
Plywood chair
Objectively a perfect design (same angle as the Lounger), but no interest from me, I am not into this little fucker. Still, it’s dateable and out of style, which is a market opportunity. Goes for more than the LCM as it’s featured in more museum design collections.
Side/school chair
The cheapest and most available decent Eames item there is, so long as it’s with the school base (see above). They are everywhere; don’t ever pay more than $100, orange is the least rare. Absolutely stay away from ones with the candlepin or the fussy metal legs—they are beyond awful. I’ve found a handful of these in the wild (in the street) over the year. It can happen to you. Many knockoffs, but that’s fine, so long as they’re old.
Splint
Perhaps the greatest piece of collectible minutiae ever produced, in any medium. Chuck made it early in his career, one piece of plywood, for the army; it was used for soldiers with busted legs. From a splint to the world’s fair! A great gift: Furniture is hard to gift because it’s big. Splints used to be very very collectible for a while and would sell for a few thousand; several have sold for $500 this year, with a few on LA right now ending this month for about that.
Nauga Monster
As represented on my very own Instagram. Some say these are kitschy; I am not sure. The product of an advertising campaign for Naugahyde, a fake leather the couple was involved in disseminating. There is a healthy collectors’ community for these things—it’s easier to amass multiple Nauga monsters than loungers—but it’s outside of furniture. Try eBay or Yahoo Japan. If you find one for under $600 I will personally shout you out in this newsletter*. Also a rewarding Instagram hashtag search (see above). I used to love these things, I don’t anymore, but I wouldn’t pass one up, but I also wouldn’t display it prominently. Such is the Proustian thought process involving design marginalia.
Tandem Seating
One of the most daring and twisted design decisions from Charles and Ray, and perhaps the key to their whole enterprise. Were they making furniture for families and ad agencies? Or were they abusing the limits of what restraint could be? Available with shell (above) or side tops. There was a shell tandem in Laguardia (different color) before the remodel, near the Air Canada wing, ostensibly a shoeshine booth. Several were on Craigslist around then for maybe $700. The above photo is from a buy it now auction on LA for $3,500.
A truly brutal and experimental piece of furniture that suffers in its reputation from association with Eames; buy if under $2,000. Eames, ultimately, is not MCM. They did not make furniture for young families, it’s not beautification… and it’s not their fault that the handful of their less inspired designs are the most prominent ones today. So much of their work is a harsh commentary on what furniture can be… many of the pieces I highlighted, in fact. The list of transgressive and wild Eames items is long; and the list of items they designed that are less expensive now than they were five years ago is longer.
Imitation items:
Many, many fakes, likely more than real. I would avoid most direct Eames ripoffs, since they’re of poor quality. But the couple’s design footprint in the ‘50s and ‘60s was so massive that there are dozens of generic brands from the era that make similar things—side chairs and desks especially. The best close-enough item might be the Mulhauser Plycraft chair, which have been selling for under $500 on LA for the past couple years. There is also this folding table:
But it’s only attributed—not sure it’s by Chuck. From an LA auction a couple years ago.
Auctions ending this week—thin week… better ones ending in the next few:
Frattini stacking tables, Mass., $600
McCobb wide coffee table $1K, Sag Harbor NY, in-house shipping
Bertoia six side chairs $100, NY NY
Generic small leather/wood sofa, $140, Colombia
Kaluse Oy (Finnish) leather sofa, looks like Lafer, $150, Cleveland
Saarinen tulip table (big) $1200 NYC
Happy hunting — and thanks for reading.
Snake
other work: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-JLRt0Ec6gZBm50hATYCYmLctnF9GhVijoEbam50JSw/edit?overridemobile=true
*shoutout does not apply if you earn over 40% of your monthly off reselling furniture.