Royal House
Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted
to offer for sale extremely rare and important pair of fully restored, original,
Herman Miller No1 & Herman Miller Hillie circa 1958-1960 black leather and
Rosewood lounge armchairs and ottomans
Please note the delivery fee
listed is just a guide, it covers within the M25 only for the UK and local
Europe only for international, if you would like an accurate quote please send
me your postcode and I’ll provide you with the exact price
These are pretty much the most iconic and well known armchair and ottoman ever made, exhibited countless times, displayed in the V&A, Metropolitan Museum of Art, winners of countless awards these are the simply put the finest suite around
They have been on a journey, I’ve had all pieces stripped to the bare shells, the frames have been washed back and traditionally French polished, the leather all restored and hand dyed the original nero black, they are the finest example pair anywhere in the world today
One suite has the black Herman Miller No1 label, the other, the earlier redish Herman Miller Hillie label
Condition wise, the restoration has been done in such a way to keep all the original charm and patina but make them gallery ready, they will have age and use related patina marks here and there but mostly they are in very fine order
Dimensions armchairs
Height:- 80.5cm
Width:- 85cm
Depth:- 86.5cm
Seat height:- 41cm
Dimensions ottomans
Height:- 42cm
Width:- 65.5cm
Depth:- 53.5cm
Please note all measurements are
taken at the widest point, if you would like any additional or specific
measurements please ask
MUST READ!
The Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman are
furnishings made of molded plywood and leather, designed
by Charles and Ray Eames for the Herman Miller furniture
company. They are officially titled Eames Lounge (670) and Ottoman (671) and
were released in 1956 after years of development by designers. It was the
first chair that the Eameses designed for a high-end market. Examples of these
furnishings are part of the permanent collection of New York's Museum of
Modern Art.
Design
Charles and Ray Eames sought to develop furniture that
could be mass-produced and affordable, with the exception of the Eames Lounge
Chair. This luxury item was inspired by the traditional English club
chair. The Eames Lounge Chair is an icon of Modern style design,
although when it was first made, Ray Eames remarked in a letter to Charles that
the chair looked "comfortable and un-designy". Charles's vision was
for a chair with "the warm, receptive look of a well-used first
baseman's mitt." The chair is composed of three curved plywood shells
covered with veneer: the headrest, the backrest and the seat. The layers
are glued together and shaped under heat and pressure. The shells and the seat
cushions are essentially of the same shape, and composed of two curved forms
interlocking to form a solid mass. The chair back and headrest are identical in
proportion, as are the seat and the ottoman.
The products have changed in various ways over time.
Beginning in 1956 and running through the very early 1990s, the shells were
made up of five thin layers of plywood which were covered by a veneer of
Brazilian rosewood. The use of Brazilian rosewood was discontinued in the
early 1990s, and current production since then consists of seven layers of
plywood covered by finishing veneers of cherry, walnut, palisander rosewood (a
sustainably grown wood with similar grain patterns to the original Brazilian
versions), and other finishes. Small changes include the sets of spacers
between the aluminum spines and the wood panels, originally of rubber, later
hard plastic washers, and the number of screws securing the armrests,
originally three, changed to two in second-series models, while the "domes
of silence" (glides/feet) on the chair base originally had thinner screws
attaching them to the aluminum base than those on later chairs, and the zipper
around the cushions, either brown or black on early models, was later black
only. Further, early ottomans had removable rubber slide-on feet with metal
glides, and early labels are of oblong foil.
History
The Eames Lounge Chair first appeared on the Arlene
Francis Home show broadcast on the NBC television
network in the US in 1956. Immediately following the debut, Herman Miller
launched an advertising campaign that highlighted the versatility of the chair.
Print ads depicted the 670 in a Victorian parlor, occupied by a grandmother
shelling peas on the front porch of an American Gothic style house, and in the
middle of a sunny field of hay.
Since its introduction, the chair has been in continuous
production by MillerKnoll in the USA. Later, Vitra (in
cooperation with the German furniture company Fritz Becker KG) began producing
the chair for the European market. It was licensed in the UK for 10 years
to Hille International LTD from 1957. Immediately following its
release, other furniture companies began to copy the chair's design. Some made
direct copies, others were merely influenced by the design. The former Plycraft
Company issued dozens of chairs that were direct copies of or in-the-style-of
the Eames 670. Later Chinese and European companies began making direct copies.
However, Herman Miller and Vitra remain the only two companies to produce these
chairs with the Eames name attached.
In 2006, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the chair,
Miller released models using a sustainable palisander rosewood veneer.
Popular culture
Frasier features the chair and ottoman in the
apartment of the titular character, Frasier Crane, who identifies it by name in
the pilot episode and describes it in a later episode as "...the
best-engineered chair in the world." Like most of the furnishings, it is
there for the entire series.
Shark Tank replaced its red chairs it had for eight
seasons with Eames Lounge Chairs as part of a new, modern set.
iCarly also featured the chair and sometimes ottoman
in the Seattle apartment of Carly Shay and her brother Spencer.
Both Frasier and iCarly were set in
Seattle. House features the chair and ottoman in Dr. House's office,
across from his desk.
Things I Miss the Most song by Steely Dan mentions
"the comfy Eames chair" in the lyric of the second chorus.
On display
A 1956 rosewood Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman are in the
permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
The set was a gift of the Herman Miller Company, donated in 1960.
A rosewood Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman are on display
at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
A walnut or rosewood Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman are on
display and in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Any questions please feel free to
ask before you bid
ABOUT US
Royal House
Antiques is a privately owned family ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and
now based in Pulborough RH20. We specialise in finding, restoring very fine
luxury antique leather seating, along with every single other type of antique
ranging from the 16th century to the 20th century. We
also stock a number of designer brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren,
Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames, Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le
Coulter and so on
PAYMENTS
We accept
payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we
would kindly ask that all items are paid for within 48 hours and collected
within 7 working days, we can hold all paid items for 14 days free of charge,
there after a £20 a week storage fee will apply. We have long term storage
which is very economically priced, we are happy to hold stock for as long as
needed providing it is arranged prior to the purchase
If sold
items aren’t collected within three months and no arrangements have been made
for long term storage you will forfeit the item and payment
CONDITION
Please view
the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining
to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid and not
after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed
Royal House
Antiques cannot be held liable for any independent assumptions made regarding
the items we sell, if you are unsure on any point, please feel free to ask for
clarity
Please note
vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have
natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to
ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in
direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade
DELIVERY OR
COLLECTION
This item is
available for collection from our Pulborough warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment
only, alternatively we can have it delivered nationwide to include Scotland,
Wales and Ireland for a fee
Please
contact me via email, alternatively my contact information is under the
business seller section of the listing, with your postcode for a delivery
quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed covers with the M25 for the UK,
for international deliveries the amount listed covers local Europe only so
parts of Belgium and France
Please be
sure to include which item you would like to buy as the price is determined on
size and distance, if you would like more than one piece of furniture the
courier offers a substantial discount on the second and third item, for
international shipping please view the below information
COURIER, LARGE
ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED
We can
arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our nominated couriers, for Europe we
use one reasonably priced professional company that we trust, for the rest of
the world we use international shippers that can send any size item crated via
air freight within 7-14 days after crating or soft packed and container shipped
via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic
shipping is almost entirely governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times
and custom clearances
Whomever
delivers will always require help on the larger items to unload, the price you
will be quoted will always be based on this assumption, if this is not possible,
please let us know as it will affect the price to send a two-person team
Delivery is
to the ground floor only, again if you need help upstairs or in flats etc
that's absolutely not a problem, the couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man
per item, if you have a working elevator then naturally there’s no additional
fee
All courier
fees are paid by yourself directly to the courier company, the contract for
delivery is between yourselves the client and whichever courier you chose from
those available I’m happy to accommodate your own courier after a cleared
payment has been received, they need to book in a collection time with at least
24 hours notice, all collections must be made within 14 working days of the
close of the sale unless agreed by prior arrangement
IMPORT DUTY
Most
countries charge some kind of import duty however almost all of our items won’t
incur any charges as the items are exempt from tax due to the age and materials
used
For European
deliveries the price you will be quoted will include all clearance
documentation and any customs charges so there won’t be any additional fees
For
international deliveries such as the United States there can be some import
duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would estimate that 99% of all deliveries
clear customs without being stopped for either
All duties
are the responsibility of the purchaser who is the importer, they can’t be
covered by the seller or shipping agent or factored in with additional
retrospective discounts
RETURNS
Royal House
Antiques offers a no quibble return policy if the item is not as described, if
there are any issues with the piece you will be refunded in full once the item
has been returned and inspected within 14 days, alternatively if there is a
small issue, we can discuss finding a mutual resolution that makes all parties
happy
We don’t
offer a sale on approval service which means you can purchase the item, have it
delivered and if you simply don’t like it, return it, this comes under change
of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot of time, money and work involved in
transporting goods around the world, the costs incurred can be vast so my
advice would be if you are unsure on a piece please ask as many questions as
you like to make sure you understand everything before you buy, if you are
still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in person or if that’s not
possible then don’t buy from an online retailer, perhaps look for a local
gallery instead