It's all in the detail

Photo via Eames Office

This wonderful picture of an aluminum group chair upholstered in Alexander Girard hopsack requires little introduction and no actual words, except perhaps this equally wonderful quote written by Charles and Ray Eames …

"The details are not the details;  they make the product."

What do you see?

photos by Petra Bindel for Herman Miller | styling by Lotta Agaton

I know, I'm late to the party with this one. A few months ago my PINTEREST feed was awash with these images as was just about every blog I cared to visit. Interestingly - and this is more a reflection of the feeds I follow and the blogs I tend to read - these pictures made the headlines because of the styling, or rather the stylist, and not necessarily because of the chairs.

The interior stylist in question is LOTTA AGATON, and back in February I got wind she was heading over to Michigan to work with none other than HERMAN MILLER.  I couldn't wait to see the results. Why? Because I wouldn't have necessarily put these two names together.

Last year Lotta styled STRING for their stand at DESIGN JUNCTION. I went along for a gander, and standing there surrounded by Lotta's props made me feel like a child in a sweet shop.  There was so much to see. The shelves went up and up and each one was meticulously filled with complementing paper goods interspersed with desk lamps and odd, but always interesting, curios. The palatte was simple. White. With a bit of neutral thrown in for good measure.  It was fascinating.  Did I notice the String? No, not really.  But then I wasn't there for the STRING.

Lotta Agaton working for STRING, or STRING working with Lotta Agaton I get. The shelving system was after all designed by fellow Swede Nils Strinning.  And shelves are supposed to have stuff on them, that's what they're for.  So it makes sense I suppose to show the shelves off with, well, stuff on them.  But chairs?  I mean the most inticing of chairs is an empty chair.  An empty chair is an open invitation, it says what it needs to say, which is nothing more than 'sit here'.  But a HERMAN MILLER chair, an iconic chair, a design classic … no styling required, surely?

I'm happy to see the chairs have been left to speak for themselves. The 'new' fibreglass shells which HERMAN MILLER is once again able to produce thanks to new production methods look as good as the original designs by Eames from way back when.  And while these 'reissues' are a little too new for my vintage tastes, there's no denying that set against these calm yet equally atmospheric backdrops they certainly look the business.

As for the styling, it's as subtle as it is Scandinavian. I adore the use of plywood and the hints of a set design to the left or right of shot. And the moods created by the deep green and that melancholy grey. And the sprinkling of statement accessories such as the 265 wall lamp by FLOS, posters by PLAYTYPE and the BERGMAN LIGHTS as well as the interesting bits and bobs which may up the desk top displays.

So I admit it … I admit to being drawn in by the impeccably styled nature of these images.  But it's the furniture that holds my gaze.

♡

mix

We've come up with a new series which allows us to play around with beautiful images and indulge our wider passion for interiors, lighting, textiles - basically anything home-related.  Today's focus is grey - textures in particular - mixed with our current penchant for all things black and white.  Throw in a few choice chairs, and fingers crossed you'll enjoy what we've come up with.

Do let us know what you think.

Images:  
Pulp Pendant, Folklore | Bedroom, Hitta Hem | Ercol Model 427 Lounge Chair, Cream and Chrome | Elephant Grey Eames RAR, Phillips de Pury | Interior, Convoy | Arkana Chair, Emmas Design Blogg | BB.09.09 Chandelier, Lindsay Adelman

please and thank you

Now THIS is how we like to start a new week - a new month even ... an elephant grey (or should that be gray?) ARMSHELL sitting atop a black 'cats cradle' base.  To say that we need this would be an understatement.  However, WE NEED THIS.  Now.  Please and thank you.

Image: Circa Modern

three

Images:  Modern Conscience 

electrifying

Here's the latest addition to our every expanding family of chairs designed by the infamous Mr Eames.  This one we picked up more for the base than the shell itself, but the electrifying blue hopsack is growing on us.  The shell is relatively new - we can just pick out the year 1989 stamped on the underside - and in super condition, however we can't say the same for the base.  It's doubtful if the cast aluminium 'contract' base is original to the shell, mainly because it appears to have seen so much wear - one of the nylon glides is present only in part, and goodness knows how many layers of dirt and grime we've stumped up for.  But a quick whizz around the interweb (OK, OK, we headed straight over to Manhattan Nest) and we're now completely in-the-know - a little Ajax coupled with some elbow grease should do the trick when we eventually get round to sprucing this baby up!

purple

Picture the scene ..... we're over on that well-known auction website doing a spot of window shopping as it were, and lo and behold we spot a purple flying Eames. Yes, that's right. Worth a look we thought. OK, so it turns out it's not a flying Eames, but the fact it's purple makes it a noteworthy specimen. According to the spiel, this colour = super rare. So, here's the deal (their words, not ours) - the colour was not a listed, mass produced colour at any point in Herman Miller's history and as such it's more than likely a prototype test colour or sample ..... making it possibly 'the rarest color ever'. How (potentially) exciting! Could this be true? Anyone know?

Images: Lounge 27

small print

Since telling you - OK, OK, showing off - about our new old Eames lounger and ottoman, we've been trying to find out a little bit more about the association between Herman Miller and Hille.  So far we've drawn a blank, a big fat zero.  However we did stumble upon this vintage brochure which, if we could read the text, might actually shed some light on the matter.  Unfortunately, we've been able to source a copy of this brochure in a readable format, but the pictures of the chairs tell a story of sorts!

Image:  ModernDesign901

screw this

The restoration is coming along nicely, thank you for asking!  We bid farewell and good riddance to the demon adhesive some time ago, whereupon we promptly rewarded our efforts by downing tools.  But hey, there's no rest for the wicked.  As you'll know if you follow us over on twitter, we managed to bag ourselves a H base long before we had a shell to go with it.  Now we have the shell, but uh-oh, no screws to attach the former to the latter, or the latter to the former - whichever!  Enter Modern Conscience, who happen to have a vintage bases, spares and parts department.  So far, so good ...... but golly, their screw selection was mind-boggling. Knowing little about our shell and next to nothing - OK, nothing - about which set of screws we required, we took a quick pic of the mounts and fired it across to the extremely helpful folk at Modern Conscience - and their response was just the ticket:

"Lovely example, probably early 60's. I love the little Herman Miller logo on the mounts. The square impressions in the mounts mean that this was originally a rocker.  Fine thread screws are what you want .... the basic vintage fine thread version is the most likely one to have been on your seat originally."

We were sold and placed our order tout suite.  The screws arrived in one piece, so to speak, and looked all the better for their 4,500 mile journey.  And yeap, they fit ...... yeee-ha!  So, there you have it - one original shell with its original shock mounts, four vintage screws and an original Herman Miller H base ...... let's just hope the base aligns with the mounts!

new best friend

So, there we were, getting our regular Eames fix, when we spotted our new best friend.  MAX, or Medium Armshell X-Base, is an Eames creation for Herman Miller first introduced in 1954.  The design was marketed as 'appropriate for either reading or relaxing' due to 'the comfortable in between height of this molded plastic armchair'.  Produced between 1954 and 1959, the original shell colours were elephant hide grey, greige, parchment, lemon yellow, sea foam green, or red with the bases either bright plated or black rod.  Our new best friend is griege with black rod legs and, rather impressively, the shell and base are original to each other.  Wonder if - when - our new best friend will come and pay us a visit ..... you're more than welcome Max, anytime!

Images: Modern Conscience

1, 2, 3, 4

Our sealed bid was successful ..... we won, we jolly well won!

legless

Our local auction house peddles a huge amount of brown furniture, so we were quite excited when we got wind they were holding a 20th century sale.  Before we hit the off, we did a quick recky online and there appeared to be a few bits and pieces that looked interesting - mainly Gispen, but then we like a bit of Gispen - so off we went.  And we're jolly glad we did, as accompanying the catalogue was a hastily typed sheet of additional lots .... and 'hello' Herman Miller fibreglass shells!  Yes, there they were, four of them, completely legless, perched atop a pair of industrial metal side tables.  Their condition near perfect, Herman Miller stamps evident, shock mounts in situ, guide price for all four a snippet - bingo!  We left a sealed bid.  The sale is tomorrow, 10 o'clock sharp .....

Untraditional

The fabric in this 1954 advertisement for Herman Miller reminded us of linen scrim, a fine yet incredibly strong open weave material traditionally used by upholsterers - or used by traditional upholsters - to cover stuffings in preparation for stitching.  We can't imagine that Herman Miller use a great deal of linen scrim in the construction of their chairs, but hey, we're not experts!

Image:   Container List

colour chart

Following on from our monochrome shell collection post about the moulded shell chair designed by Eames, we couldn't resist sharing this 'Eames Fiberglass Chair Colors' chart for Herman Miller which dates from c. 1962.

The standrd shell colours are:  OG-Olive Green Dark, OC-Ochre Light, RU-Raw Umber, SB-Seal Brown, RO-Red Orange, NB-Navy Blue, LY-Lemon Yellow, GR-Greige, PR-Parchment, SF-Sea Foam Green, EG-Elephant Hide Grey.

The contract shell colours are:  BK-Black, TC-Terracotta, LG-Greige Light, OD-Ochre Dark, MG-Grey Medium, PN-Pink, GL-Grey Light, TQ-Turquoise, LB-Light Blue, MB-Medium Blue, TL-Tan Light, TD-Tan Dark, LS-Sea Foam Green Light, BY-Brilliant Yellow, YG-Grey Yellow, KG-Kelly Green.

Credits/Images:  Eames Office