PSCA-36 Secretarial Adjustable Side Shell Prototype

This prototype models the foam-upholstered seating shell of the Eames Secretarial Chair, a design that further evolved the Eameses’ pioneering molded fiberglass shell chairs. After introducing the molded fiberglass chairs in 1950, several years later the designers augmented it with two upholstered cushions affixed to the seat and back with screws. Unsatisfied with this solution, in the late 1960s, they further updated the design with a single contoured pad by fusing polyurethane foam padding to the shell’s inner surface. Doing so entailed joining the fiberglass shell and fabric upholstery at their edges, then filling the form with a liquid foam that hardened to produce a comfortable padded seat. This particular prototype aimed to refine the attachment between the seat’s textile and fiberglass elements. Unlike the final production model, which bears visible seams across the seat, this one is made of a single piece of Naugahyde (a synthetic, rubber-based textile). The result is a smooth and unified surface. The shell’s underside is marked with the name and logo of its producer, the Herman Miller Furniture Company, as well as an “S” inside a circle, which indicates that the prototype was fabricated at the company’s Summit manufacturing plant. This prototype is from the Eames Office at 901 Washington Boulevard.