Hi, all.
I'm out in Stnta Fe right now looking at property. I came across an amazing find. 40-45 Eames Shell Chairs (sidechairs no arms), all in good to excellent condition. All are either orange or yellow and all have the Herman Miller logo cast into the fiberglass. I'd say they're 1970's vintage. They have shock mount bases but don't stack. I took pictures but I can't upload at the moment, so I'll do that after I get home.
These were destined for the scrap heap, before I rescued tham. I certainly can't use that many of them. What to do to find them a good home? Anyone?
Below is an ebay link to the type of chair I'm taking about. The chairs on the link are missing their bases, though.
Olive
WOO HOO! I'll buy some off you if/when you get them to MA. Here's what you do in the meantime. Get a bunch of friends with screwdrivers - unscrew all of the bases - they are easily stackable without the shells on them. Tape them into bundles of 4 or 2 or however you plan on selling them.
Keep all the screws, as they changed the threading on them at some point - some are tricky to find in a plain old hardware store.
Stack the chairs with kraft paper between them - the shockmounts can stain the chairs below and its a pain in the ass to get off.
Call me when you get to MA - I'll take a couple 😀
Sell the rest to either a modern store, or ebay it. Ebay can be painstaking and exhaustive, so I'd put them up for 50 each or 100 a pair for the yellow 75 -150 for the orange (more desirable), Buy It Now option. Buy a bunch of boxes and a crapload of bubble wrap. (I snagged some from the recycling bins at work)
Santa Fe
Santa Fe must be the new Palm Springs! My Aunt & Uncle moved there about 5 years ago(other memebrs of my Aunts family were already there), another Aunt & Uncle(who live in Pebble Beach) are selling a condo in Los Gatos, CA to by something in Santa Fe, and now you. Is there something happening there that goes above my head? I thought everything was wood and clay in Santa Fe, how the heck did you find Eames chairs?!
imo
yellow is more desirable (and less common) than orange, at least on ebay.
if you are willing to take the time to list them, you will make $$$. you may even make more if you list in pairs or sets of four... as some people do prefer matched sets.
[however, if you are considering offering a deal to da forum members, i would be interested in one or two as well... 😉 ]
If all else fails,
it sounds like they might be worth at least $25 ea (more with bases ?) to the nearest modernist dealer -- check the NM yellow pages ? This is if you don't want to haul or ship them but don't want to see them in a landfill. But (as stated) you could do better. . .
Thanks everyone for the excellent feedback
I'm going to ship them home to MA, I think. So thanks much to Lucifersum for the excellent packing instructions! We wondering what to do with them.
LRF...since all are in such good condition I hate to break them apart and sell as parts. Once we go through them and find out if any of the bases or shells are truly in deplorable condition I'll let you know if there are shell to spare.
As for all of the other DA-ers. Let me get them home and clean them up and I'll be in touch on the forum as to what's going to be up for grabs. I think I'll keep 4 orange ones for myself. I might also set aside a few for trying to get the premium bucks on Ebay. That'll likely leave me a good bunch for you all. I'd love to help a brother out as they say, so I'd love to sell to fellow DA'ers.
As to how I came upon them well...that's a bit of a secret but they were used in a cafeteria. I'm going back to my vacation now...I'll be in touch in a bout a week.
Stephen i did not know ...
Stephen i did not know that you and Olive were friends you state
you know we've always been mates and I think you are a really hot woman, with a great body who looks like a thinking man's Cameron Diaz.
If thats the case no ones gonna have a chance to get any chairs cause they are all going to Austrailia C.O.D
Side bar to Olive
I think for selling purposes the best thing would be to sell the shells only seems that most folks do not want the H bases, the effiel towers are so popular and it seems all my customers request them .
I have no idea where the Japanese are they were the biggest buyer of Eames shells but for some reason that market has dried up,
I got 20 Lafonda shells from the University of Texas at Austin two years ago slated for the dumpster, so i know the feeling of a big score, the only thing i can say is good luck dealing with a 50 can be overwhelming,
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