The Last Decade of Eames Furniture
In their final years of furniture design, the Eameses reimagined earlier works using new materials and technology to meet the evolving needs of modern workplaces.
The Eames Collection
ECS Graphic Study
ETR Coffee Table (Elliptical Table Rod Base)
Fiberglass Side Shell
Patang
Carved Base Antler 2
682 Lounge Chair with Arms
Kettler Car / Kettcar
OTW (Occasional Table Wood)
EA208 Swivel Armchair
Unique Silver LTR (Strut Table)
Steinberg Galerie Maeght Poster (1953)
Design Studies for Mathematics Films
Sofa Compact Packaging Mock-Up
EA322 Reclining Arm Chair
692 Dining Table
ES108 Eames Sofa
DTW-1 (Dining Table Wood)
Photograph of Charles Eames with Steinberg Diploma
Walnut Stool, 411
Carved Spreader 4
Scale Study for Plyformed Wood Company Logo
Upholstered Wire Chair Prototype
Carved Base Antler 1
Carved Base Antler 4 Prototype
EA216 Swivel Lounge Armchair
“Alarm” Toy Boat
EA423 Eames Soft Pad Ottoman
MKX-1 “D” Wire Chair
Carved Base Antler 3
“High Tea” Postcard
Handmade Fiberglass Study for Side Shell
Study for Plyformed Wood Company Logo
Le Cirque Board Game
Special Use Table
Fiberglass Side Shell
Occasional Table Prototype
3679 Table
EC178 Office Seating Prototype
Fiberglass Side Shell
EA 323 Ottoman
House of Cards Mock-up Process (Diamond Cards)
“The City,” Flair Magazine
LCW Limited Edition (Two-Tone)
Photograph of Steinberg Drawing Projected onto Hedda Sterne with The Toy in Background
La Chaise Images on Aluminum Presentation Panel
Fiberglass Side Shell
EC175 Office Seating Prototype
670, Lounge Chair
Time Magazine Cover with Steinberg Drawing, from 901 Library
EC121 Adjustable Stool Swivel with 1730 Arm Shell
“Sole Concessionaires” Postcard
682 Lounge Chair with Arms
LKR-2 Upholstered Wire Chair
Fiberglass Armchair with Steinberg Nude
EC434 Adjustable Tilt-Swivel Armchair
“A St. Louisan’s Mexican Diary—in Water Colors”,
Paper Doll Set: A Woman with Four Dresses
Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France
MSX-1 Upholstered Side Chair
About the Eames Collection
The Eames Collection contains more than 40,000 objects spanning the expansive creative practice of Ray and Charles Eames. Drawn largely from the Eames Office at 901 Washington Boulevard in Venice, California, the holdings—which the Eames family asked the Institute to safeguard—include one-of-a-kind design prototype parts and pieces, early examples of their iconic furniture, extensive photographs, correspondence, tools, ephemera, and personal artifacts collected over decades of experimentation, travel, and collaboration. Together, these materials provide the world’s most intimate view into the Eameses’ work, which shaped, and continue to shape, modern design across furniture, architecture, exhibition design, film, and visual communications.
The Collection exists today because Lucia Eames as the owner and Llisa Demetrios as registrar spent decades caring for and archiving the materials that remained outside institutional archives. Believing Ray and Charles’s iterative process to be as important as their finished work, incredible care has been put into accounting for virtually every piece of material at the closure of the Eames Office in Venice, California. Today, the Eames Institute stewards the Collection through ongoing cataloging, preservation, research, and public engagement, ensuring that this remarkable archive is accessible to current and future generations at the Eames Archives, Eames Ranch, and the Institute’s forthcoming museum, as well as through loans to peer institutions.
All Exhibitions
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Toys & Play
The Eameses’ eclectic collection of toys goes beyond fun and games, it also offers a window into the couple’s singular approach to design.
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Steinberg Meets the Eameses
In the summer of 1950, the artist Saul Steinberg spent a day at play within the Office of Charles and Ray Eames resulting in an iconic collaboration.
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Tables
Eames chairs have always stolen the spotlight, but an adjacent thirty-year legacy of table designs demonstrates the designers’ same thoughtful approach to problem-solving.
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Ray’s Hand
From scraps and scribbles to maquettes and models, the Eames Collection contains countless examples that illustrate Ray Eames’s unique working methods and iconic collaborations.
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Eames Aluminum Group
The Eames Aluminum Group originated as outdoor furniture for a specific architectural commission, but has subsequently become one of the most recognizable and successful Eames designs.
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Postcards
From promotional tools created by the Eameses, to communication devices from a bygone era, postcards offer a unique window into Ray and Charles’s world.
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Shell Chairs
The Eameses’ quest to create a comfortable and affordable shell chair from a single material led to two iconic designs—and limitless permutations.
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Experiments in Plywood
As World War II raged overseas, Ray and Charles turned their practice toward the war effort, and in the process learned lessons that set the stage for a life in design.
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Before They Were the Eameses
By the time Ray Kaiser met Charles Eames in 1940 each had led remarkable lives marked by restless curiosity and creative pursuits.
