EC431

The Eameses continued to adapt earlier designs for chairs to the workplace throughout the 1970s—in accordance with Herman Miller’s increasing focus on contract furnishings for offices and other public settings at the time. This is one of two side chair models, the EC430 and EC431, that were introduced in this period. Both were equipped to swivel (and glide if purchased with casters, as seen here), while the EC431 could also be adjusted in height manually by twisting the stem. In this case, orange Naugahyde upholstery is set off with a black vinyl edge. Moreover, the shell is mounted on an Eames Universal Base, which had been introduced in 1968 and offered a variant to the Eames Contract Base which continued to be offered. Though both bases consisted of four prongs emerging from a central stem, the newer base features more organic, rounded forms than its angular predecessor. This change may have reflected changing tastes, as early 20th-century machine aesthetics faded from popularity in favor of more naturalistic designs, but for the Eameses the change was more likely motivated by a desire to make their chairs as stable, durable, and easy-to-produce as possible.