The collection
A squat black wooden chair with a shaped seat and base connected by a piece of bent wood. The back legs are shorter than the front legs.
1945–46

Lounge Chair, LCW

Designed by
Charles Eames (1907–1978) and Ray Eames (1912–1988)
Material
Stained laminated ash, stained ash-faced plywood, rubber
Produced by
Molded Plywood Division, Evans Products Company, Venice, California, and by Herman Miller Furniture Company, Zeeland, Michigan
Dimensions
67 x 55.8 x 55.5 cm

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection, gift of Ann Hatfield Rothschild, D81.152.1

Considered among the most important furniture designers at midcentury, the Eameses did work for the Herman Miller Furniture Company. The plywood designs created in the Eames studio in the 1940s were technical and aesthetic milestones. This sculptural lounge chair was constructed from five separate plywood parts: seat, back, front and rear legs, and spine.

The seat and back, molded three dimensionally, are held to the spine by rubber shock mounts, which give resilience. Called LCW for “Lounge Chair, Wood,” following the manufacturer’s shorthand identification, it was produced in different finishes, and in a dining chair version (DCW) as well.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, photo: Giles Rivest.