1953

Red Lion

Honduras Mahogany veneer

8 cabinets, some with drawers, some with removable shelves, 3 benches

From page 36 of AN EAMES PRIMER by Eames Demetrios: "The competition (ORGANIC DESIGNS IN HOME FURNISHINGS), organized by Elliot Noyes, the director of design at MoMA, sprang from the desire to see design evolve organicially from many of the changes taking place in society. His brief for it put the matter this way: "In the field of home furnishings there has been no outstanding design developments in recent years. A new way of living is developing, however, and this requires a fresh approach to the design problems and a new expression. An adequate solution which takes into consideration the present social, economic, technical and esthetic trends is largely lacking." Noyes's brief went on to point out that the young designers who might conceivably address these issues worked at a considerable disadvantage: "they have no opportunity to form contacts with industry which would enable them to have their designs produced." The Organic Furniture competition intended to address this problem in an unusual way. A number of manufacturers agreed to produce the prize-winning designs and a consortium of retailers (initially led only by Bloomingdale's in New York) agreed to sell them." Please see AN EAMES PRIMER for a very detailed account of the designs and the consequences of the competition, which resulted in these cabinets winning in the category of Case goods. The Eames-Saarinen team also won in the Chairs category.

Very few of these cabinets were produced; with the advent World War 2 less than one year after the announcement of the competition winners America had other priorities for plywood, the primary material used in these cabinets, and manufacturing capabilities were devoted to the production of essential war materials.

In his book, CHARLES EAMES FURNITURE FROM THE DESIGN COLLECTION, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Arthur Drexler notes: "The (Case Goods) entry by Saarinen and Eames comprised a group of cabinets and coffee tables, later supplemented by desk-tables. Like most designers of modern furniture, their solution to the problem of storage called for boxes of uniform dimensions, THE INTERESTING INNOVATION BEING THAT THE BOXES WERE NOT TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES BUT WERE TO BE CARRIED ON SEPARATE BENCHES, WHICH COULD ALSO FUNCTION AS SEATS (emphasis added)."

The cabinets are finished on all sides, except for the bottoms, where there are rubber bumper pads to protect the surface of the benches.

J.F. Chen Collection