Found An Eames Walnut Stool Original or Old?  

Looks authentic
Difficult to say the age due to the wear. The top edge looks a bit wide to me.

Thanks Woody...Since I...
Thanks Woody...
Since I live in West Michigan, I was hoping that I might have an older original..
Would you suggest that I leave it in it's current condition or find a really good restorer and have it restored?
I did take better pictures of it after I cleaned it up tonight... and have posted those as well

Neat!
Personally, I'd just rub on/off some of this stuff, and use it as it is. I've found that a simple waxing can really bring back the beauty to the somewhat battered or neglected, and it's not hard work and it's cheap. I have no idea how that hunk'o'walnut could be clamped and glued, be unsplit, re-non-split? Can you sit on the seat/top with reasonable comfort? Does it feel "splintery". It looks like season cracks, not water damage, which is good.
If you're looking to dispose of this I think I'm somewhat local to you...

Me likee waxee.
But in this case, I might do a little sanding and oiling first. That should help to bring back some color and depth to the walnut better than plain wax might. A vigorous rub-down with mineral spirits or naptha before oiling is usually in order, too. This step helps to remove any remaining residue from prior mystery treatments. Wax is like a sacrificial outer layer that helps protect the oil a bit and even out the overall sheen.
There's not much to be done about the crack, though. If the stool is otherwise stable, I'm with OW that just leaving it is probably best. Chalk it up to the character that age allows.

Hasn't the owner/OP
already obviated most of the options, by covering the poor thing with a coat of goo ? Whether oil or wax, it hardly matters. Any refinement/repair/refinish is now made much more difficult.
It seems to me that application of fresh emollients should wait until other options/operations are completed. Perhaps it's like the urge to "clean it up" by painting, which comes over many an old-house renter/purchaser. Once the paint goes on, forget about that nice old walnut panelling/stone fireplace/patinated shingling.
Maybe it's like the impulse one has when cutting or burning one's hand -- to cover it up with the other hand, to smooth it over, to instantly heal it ?
Anyway -- this stool had already been pretty much toasted, by being left in a cool and damp storage place -- I guess, based on the shrinkage and open joints. Not much to be done about that damage, I'm afraid.

The poor thing has suffered, no doubt.
It looks like a glue-joint has failed. Likely cause was wide fluctuations of relative humidity. From a damp basement to a sunny porch or hot attic, for example.
Anyway, Herman Miller goes to some trouble gluing up the walnut pieces for the rather large lathe-turnings in order to combat the kinds of dimensional changes that would occur in a normal domestic environment, but extremes will often defeat even the best construction.
Still, the stool looks entirely serviceable to me. A little tarting up should do the trick nicely, don't you agree?

.
I thinks its fixable, take it to a turner, if they're any good and have the right chucks they'll have all that wax off and the piece finely sanded within 20 minutes.
If it was mine I'd leave if for a month or so in its intended location for the split to open or close as much as it wants to. Then clean out, clamp (6 V cut concave blocks required, a turner can do this relatively easily) and epoxy it. Sand it to at least 380 and then poly coat it or whatever. It might also close up with tie down ratchet straps and blocks, hard to say without handling it.
If it feels like it takes too much force to close the split fill it with either putty in layers or resin of some sort, black epoxy is popular, once its filled and set put it back on the lathe or finish it off by hand.
So in short if you want it looking lovely take it to a pro, its not a huge or expensive looking job to me.

I'm
usually a leave it alone guy but I also think this would benefit from some attention. It would look the way it is supposed to look.

I hate to
disagree with my friend Heath, no amateur when it comes to woodworking and related crafts -- but I believe he errs here in two particulars. One, the shapes of the open seams on the top surface of the stool show that the wood has warped unevenly, meaning that pressure alone wouldn't be able to close those joints. And two, it is likely that the stool is no longer perfectly round -- nor are its healthy mates, I suspect -- because most turned shapes begin to go out of round not long after leaving the lathe, due to the uneven nature of wood shrinkage. So, placing this stool on the lathe now (which would involve gluing a temporary centering block to the top, to avoid damage to the surface there) would confound the person attempting to clean and sand the stool by that method.
But he is correct in his remaining observations, I think. The open seam in the central column of the stool can't be closed without breaking other joints above and below, I would say. Best to mix some epoxy (I'd go dark brown, but what do I know of current fancy) -- the only problem, there, being that new wax or oil have been added to the surface, no doubt contaminating the open seams to be filled.
I would have left this object in its found state, open seams, dry surface and all. I think those defects go together, all of a piece; weathered wooden objects are expected to have a dry surface and opening joints.
But we've seen plenty of the kind of thing presented in the last photos, above. So be it.

Perhaps, perhaps not 🙂 Its...
Perhaps, perhaps not 🙂 Its still something I'd try, there are faceplates like these and vacuum chucks that negate the need for a glue chuck, once its centred roughly you turn the piece by hand and tap it lightly at the other end until it spins fairly true, a light scraping or heavy sand will bring it back to round with minimal loss of material.
You need a big live centre with a rubber pad on the tailstock end, once sanded it could be turned end over and the other surface sanded or just finished by hand.
I have a feeling the stool is made from 3 laminated pieces, top, stem and base and the glue lines aren't continous so clamping one part closed (or attempting to) shouldn't stress another if you get what I mean, the piece could well be assembled after the components are turned, spigots on the stem and large holes in the seat and base.

Could
be . . .
Here's a nice use of fir:
http://www.designboom.com/design/jac-side-tables-by-gavin-coyle/?utm_cam...