La Chaise Chair by Charles & Ray Eames for Vitra, 1998

The iconic lounge chair “La Chaise” was designed by Charles and Ray Eames for the International Furniture Design Competition of the Museum of Modern Art in 1948. The piece was inspired by Gaston Lachaise’s sculpture “The Floating Figure”.

Although the chair was to be launched in 1950, Herman Miller found it too expensive to produce and never brought it to market. More than 40 years later, “La Chaise” was finally put into production. In the 1990s, the first examples rolled off the Vitra production line in very limited numbers. This example of the first edition is one of them.

The first-generation armchairs were made of a double layer of fiberglass, which made the piece solid, durable and heavy. Later models consist of a single layer.

Original design icon “La Chaise”, designed by Charles & Ray Eeames, 1948, manufacturer Vitra, Prod. 1998, various seating and reclining options. Inspired by the sculpture “Floating Figure” by the sculptor Gaston Lachaise, Charles and Ray Eames designed La Chaise for a competition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The expansive seating sculpture impresses with its incredible elegance and allows for a variety of sitting and reclining positions.
Materials: White fiberglass seat shell, chrome-plated tubular steel frame, base made of solid natural oak, with protective lacquer.
Period: 1998, with manufacturer’s label on the underside.
Slight signs of wear, some small scratches on the surface.
Dimensions: W approx. 1500 mm H approx. approx. 870 mm B-base approx. 900 mm Seat height high approx. 490 mm Seat height low approx. 39 mm
D approx. 820 mm