Herman Miller eames ID/info help  

Looks original-- vintage mounts should have vintage impressions from the vintage bases. You should be able to tell readily, if they've been switched, by impressions in the mounts that don't match up. 'Eiffel' bases are scarcer and perhaps more visually interesting than the more common H-bases and are therefore probably more desirable. Sets in theory can boost the price per chair, but ironically may also make it much more difficult to find a buyer, for the same reason; it depends on luck and circumstance, venue of sale, location, etc...

***Where do all the 4th bolts go?????????***

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Thanks for the response. Makes sense about more valuable, but smaller pool of buyers as you mentioned. What do you mean about 4th bolt?

Ian

The only thing suspicious about them is that they look maybe a little too fresh to me. Like the zinc-plated bases were media-blasted and the fiberglass has been pressure-washed and then treated with Penetrol.

Really, if these are a vintage set, they should show some age. I don't see anything that leads me to believe that they're not authentic vintage, but, if so, they've been subjected to heavy-handed treatment. Too bad, IMO.

Here are some additional close up pictures of the bases and shell. The bases has some light corrosion but its coming off very easily with a piece of aluminum foil. As far as the bases, definitely not penetroled. I took a pic next to some old brunswick chairs I used penetrol on and the difference is noticeable. I took some real close up pics that show the fibers nicely. I am thinking these are just some very nicely preserved examples.

Ian

additionally, 3 of the 4 have good condition patent labels.

Those pics are more encouraging.

Good set. Try not to go overboard with the cleaning. Really, original condition is best for resale. The tarted-up ones just look wrong.

Those exact screws can be hard to find, but a good hardware store should have the right size/thread pitch for temporary use.

Thanks tktoo. I will only be doing a wipe down to the shells and a light rub of the bases with aluminum foil. It does a good job of removing surface corrosion.

I have all the screws, but good to know they are easily found.