Eames Compact Sofa in Maharam Small Dot Pattern
View Similar Items
Eames Compact Sofa in Maharam Small Dot Pattern
About the Item
- Creator:Charles and Ray Eames (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 35 in (88.9 cm)Width: 72 in (182.88 cm)Depth: 30 in (76.2 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2000s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Seattle, WA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5748224162952
Eames Sofa Compact
Set on a simple metal frame with a seat that extends just 2.5 feet from the wall — yet comfortably seats three adults — the Eames Sofa Compact, created by visionary American designers Charles and Ray Eames (1907–78; 1912–88), is a prime example of the pair’s continual exploration of new ways to achieve comfort with minimal materials.
In 1949, the Eameses built the Eames House, their Pacific Palisades home and studio and a building that would become both a breeding ground for fresh design ideas and a real-time example of modern living. The home was conceived as part of a challenge put forth by Arts & Architecture magazine to develop low-cost modern housing in Los Angeles, an idea that aligned nicely with the efforts the Eameses had been making in affordable furniture for mass production. The sofa they designed to fit neatly into an alcove in the house would serve as a model for the Eames Sofa Compact, which would be manufactured by Herman Miller within the subsequent several years.
By the time the Eameses moved into Case Study House No. 8, as it is officially known, they had both graduated from Cranbrook Academy of Art, the esteemed art school and launching pad for a multitude of design luminaries (their peers included Florence Knoll and Eero Saarinen), and moved to Los Angeles. In their first apartment there, the couple began experimenting with bent and molded plywood using their “Kazam! Machine,” a device that pressed strips of wood into moldable pieces, allowing for increased flexibility in shape for wood furniture, such as their DCW dining chair.
In the decades that followed, the Eameses continued to experiment with new methods for producing furniture quickly and cheaply. The first prototype for the Sofa Compact was completed in 1951 with a metal frame and folding back. It was designed to pack flat for easy shipping. In 1954, the final version of the sofa went into production through Herman Miller, which offered it in a variety of upholstery options.
Although the sofa’s seat is thin, its ergonomic shape and firm pads of urethane foam make it feel much more plush than it appears. Today the Eameses are among Herman Miller’s best-known furniture designers, and the manufacturer offers the Sofa Compact in three colors. An early version of the sofa still sits in the Eames House, now a National Historic Landmark. It’s draped in a blanket — an apt metaphor for the Eameses’ creation of modernism that was never cold.
Charles and Ray Eames
Charles Eames and Ray Eames were the embodiment of the inventiveness, energy and optimism at the heart of mid-century modern American design, and have been recognized as the most influential designers of the 20th century.
As furniture designers, filmmakers, artists, textile and graphic designers and even toy and puzzle makers, the Eameses were a visionary and effective force for the notion that design should be an agent of positive change. They are the happy, ever-curious, ever-adventurous faces of modernism.
Charles (1907–78) studied architecture and industrial design. Ray (née Beatrice Alexandra Kaiser, 1912–88) was an artist, who studied under the Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann. They met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Detroit (the legendary institution where Charles also met his frequent collaborator Eero Saarinen and the artist and designer Harry Bertoia) and married the next year.
His technical skills and her artistic flair were wonderfully complementary. They moved to Los Angeles in 1941, where Charles worked on set design for MGM. In the evenings at their apartment, they experimented with molded plywood using a handmade heat-and-pressurization device they called the “Kazam!” machine. The next year, they won a contract from the U.S. Navy for lightweight plywood leg splints for wounded servicemen — they are coveted collectibles today; more so those that Ray used to make sculptures.
The Navy contract allowed Charles to open a professional studio, and the attention-grabbing plywood furniture the firm produced prompted George Nelson, the director of design of the furniture-maker Herman Miller Inc., to enlist Charles and (by association, if not by contract) Ray in 1946. Some of the first Eames items to emerge from Herman Miller are now classics: the LCW, or Lounge Chair Wood, and the DCM, or Dining Chair Metal, supported by tubular steel.
The Eameses eagerly embraced new technology and materials, and one of their peculiar talents was to imbue their supremely modern design with references to folk traditions. Their Wire chair group of the 1950s, for example, was inspired by basket weaving techniques. The populist notion of “good design for all” drove their molded fiberglass chair series that same decade, and also produced the organic-form, ever-delightful La Chaise. In 1956 the Eames lounge chair and ottoman appeared — the supremely comfortable plywood-base-and-leather-upholstery creation that will likely live in homes as long as there are people with good taste and sense.
Charles Eames once said, “The role of the designer is that of a very good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests.” For very good collectors and thoughtful interior designers, a piece of design by the Eameses, the closer produced to original conception the better, is almost de rigueur — for its beauty and comfort, and not least as a tribute to the creative legacy and enduring influence of Charles and Ray Eames.
The collection of original Eames furniture on 1stDibs includes chairs, tables, case pieces and other items.
- Ligne Roset Ploum 3 Seater High Back Sofa in Moby/FR rock fabricBy Ligne RosetLocated in Seattle, WAThis is an great newer Ploum Three Seater High Back sofa with some light wear on the fabric: one snatch on the back of the sofa, closer to the edge on the bottom. MOBY - A high-qual...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Organic Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Ligne Roset Ploum 3 Seater High Back Sofa in Off-White/Cream Wool FabricBy Ligne RosetLocated in Seattle, WAThe Ploum seating is the fruit of much research into comfort. The result is a special combination of two materials: a stretchable covering and ultra-soft foam. This combination, alon...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Organic Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Saturno Sofa by Gastone Rinaldi for RIMA, ItalyBy Gastone RinaldiLocated in Seattle, WADesigned in 1958, the Saturno Sofa was one of the most iconic designs by Gastone Rinaldi, a prominent figure in Italian design alongside Gio Ponti, Ettore...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsSteel
$6,297 Sale Price40% Off - 3 Seater Chiclet Sofa with Side TablesBy Ray WilkesLocated in Seattle, WA3 seater chiclet sofa with black leather-top side tables, designed by Ray Wilkes for Herman Miller, circa 1970s. Sofa is in original blue & black wool fa...Category
Vintage 1970s North American Post-Modern Sofas
MaterialsWool
$4,766 Sale Price20% Off - Early Rare Eames Screen Room Divider FSW-6 in RosewoodBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Seattle, WAAn extremely rare first generation Eames FSW-6 privacy screen, in Rosewood Veneer at 68 height, with cotton fabric connector in good condition, no tears, fraying at the end. Rosewo...Category
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsRosewood, Plywood
- Early Eames Screen Room Divider FSW-6 Custom Order in RosewoodBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Seattle, WAAn extremely rare first generation Eames FSW-6 privacy screen, custom ordered in Rosewood Veneer at 61 inch height, with cotton fabric connector in good condition, no tears, only fraying at the end. Rosewood was generally not an option for the privacy screen throughout the first production, and can only be custom ordered. We have checked with the Herman Miller Archive and the Eames foundation to ensure this is the first generation Eames screen...Category
Vintage 1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsPlywood, Rosewood
$19,496 Sale Price25% Off
- Charles Eames for Herman Miller Compact SofaBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Pasadena, TXThe Eames sofa compact works where bulkier sofas don’t. The clean profile and crisp, light scale evolved from a built-in sofa that Charles and Ray Eames designed for the living room ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsOther
$2,800 Sale Price20% Off - Charles Eames Sofa CompactBy Charles EamesLocated in Toronto, OntarioA very rare and rather exceptional sofa compact by Charles Eames for Herman Miller. This example is special for a few reasons. It is a very early model as evidenced by the centre metal bracket. It is also a folding example. Later pieces were fixed in place. This sofa also retains the original vintage Alexander Girard "giant stripe" textile. A very rare thing as most were reupholstered of originally upholstered in a basic vinyl or wool . This textile and construction dates the sofa to approx. 1959. This is most likely the best example of a vintage Sofa Compact available for sale. A true museum example. From Herham Miller website: Why “compact” for a sofa that’s six feet wide and seats three? The clean profile of the Eames sofa compact...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
$12,500 - "Compact Sofa" Ray & Charles Eames Godparents Gift to Eric Saarinen, OriginalBy Charles and Ray EamesLocated in Bloomfield Hills, MIThis slim, upright modern "Compact Sofa" designed by Ray & Charles Eames was a gift to their Godson, Erik Saarinen, son of their good friend Eero Saarinen. Both Ray and Charles Eames attended Cranbrook Academy of Art where they met Eero Saarinen and became godparents to Erik. The sofa was given to Eric who is now selling this piece of history. Provenance is directly from Eric Saarinen...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsSteel
- Charles Eames Herman Miller Compact SofaLocated in Pasadena, TXCharles Eames Herman Miller compact sofa The Eames sofa compact works where bulkier sofas don’t. The clean profile and crisp, light scale...Category
Vintage 1960s Sofas
MaterialsIron
- 2006 Herman Miller Ray and Charles Eames Sofa Compact Purple Fabric UpholsteryBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is an original Herman Miller Eames Sofa Compact designed by Ray and Charles Eames. The sofa compact was designed to be as eff...Category
Early 2000s American Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
- 2006 Herman Miller by Ray and Charles Eames Sofa Compact Blue Fabric UpholsteryBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is an original Herman Miller Eames Sofa Compact designed by Ray and Charles Eames. The sofa compact was designed to be as eff...Category
Early 2000s American Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
A Guide to Herman Miller’s Most Iconic Furniture
The prolific manufacturer has partnered with many of the world’s top designers since opening its doors in 1923. Here are some of the company’s greatest hits, which helped transform the American home and office.