1961

Herman Miller

1730-1 La Fonda Arm Chair 1961

29 1/2" H by 25" W by 22" D

Seat height 18 1/2"

Charcoal naugahyde upholstery

Originally designed by the Eames Office as a special commission for Alexander Girard's New York City restaurant, La Fonda Del Sol. Girard requested chairs with backs that would not protrude above table tops. The Eames Office re-sculpted the original fiberglass arm chair, lowering its back and raising its arms into this new form. This is from a set of six La Fonda chairs, two arm chairs, and six side chairs, which came on to the market en suite with a table, illustrated elsewhere in this Catalogue.

The Eames Office also took the occasion of this commission to devise a new cast aluminum base, which made its debut in 1961 with this chair. If you compare this base to the previous cast aluminum base, the contract base, you see what a breakthrough is represented by this base. The "contract" base comes in three distinct parts, each requiring a separate manufacturing process: the cast aluminum base, the pole, and the spider which cradles the shell or seat. The La Fonda base has four identical component parts, welded (in the case of this example) and later bolted together. Thereby, in one manufacturing step, the making of the four quarters of this base, the Eames Office had a base which: cradled the seat, elevated the sitter, and securely rested on the floor.

There is a "Summit" ink stamp on the underside of this chair.

This is one of a matched set of six La Fonda chairs: two arm chairs and four side shells.

J.F. Chen Collection