Estate Find

Mid Century Modern

Herman Miller

1953

PKW-2 Side Chair

Ray and Charles Eames, Designers

We offer a Herman Miller PKW-2 Side Chair designed in 1951 by Ray and Charles Eames.

A PKW-2 chair is a pivoting, k-wire chair on a wooden base with the cut-out “bikini” cover which exposes the wire mesh construction. In non-technical terms this is referred to as a bikini swivel wire chair.

The chair has a black powder coated finish on the steel wire structure and the wooden legs have a natural maple varnished finish. Each leg has an original round clear plastic pad now yellowed with age. The ball bearing swivel mechanism is stamped “SENG Chicago”. The seat covers are threaded with a black wire with curved ends that hook onto the wire frame. The seat cover retains the original Herman Miller upholstery contents sewn on tag which lists the brown woven fabric as “Oily Cattle Body Hair”. The stamped date on the tag is obscured but the two companion chairs are clearly stamped Oct 1953.

The chair measures 32" in height. The seat is 19" in width and 16" in depth.  The seat measures 18" in height. The span of the feet is 16". The overall depth of the chair measures 21”.

The chair is seventy years old and should be considered a piece of historical design sculpture by Ray and Charles Eames. The black powder coated wire frame shows no rustication. The swivel mechanism is not coated and shows minor rust. The seat revolves 360 degrees but could benefit with oiling. The wood dowel legs show no cracks. The feet pads are yellowed but intact. The seat and back pads show minor wear. The pivoting, wire frame chair on a wood base with cut out seat and back covers is presented in original unrestored vintage condition.