I recently saw a chair which I am longing to buy. It will be produced in a limited number of 500, of which only 180 will be available in the United States. Unfortunately, I’m priced out…it’s selling for $2,500.
This unique piece of furniture is one of Charles and Ray Eames’ iconic designs. Known as the shell chair, it was developed in the 1950s using the Eames’ innovative plastic molding techniques.
Shortly after the chair’s creation, Saul Steinberg, the witty artist best known for the 1,200 drawings he created for the New Yorker magazine, visited Ray and Charles in their Venice, California studio. In a playful moment, he grabbed a paintbrush and started painting his famous line drawings all over the walls, floors and furniture. The couple viewed this “vandalism” as good fun and documented the event with photographs.
Cats were one of Steinberg’s favorite subjects, and he painted one resting in the newly created shell chair. Now, nearly three-quarters of a century later, furniture makers Herman Miller and Vitra are producing exact replicas of that whimsical chair.
Ben Watson, the president of Herman Miller, states, “Being able to celebrate some of the most revered names in art and design from the 20th century through the recreation of one piece is truly special. This chair embodies the joy in Herman Miller’s approach to modern living”.
I may not have the funds for the feline chair, but I do have an Eames shell chair. And it is often embellished with a cat…a real one.
