Paul McCobb Origami Armchair Base?  

1960
There were 5 base designs for the "Faceted Form Chair" (yes that's what it actually was called "Origami Chair" is a recent fabrication) of which your flat legs are one.
Your leg base does not appear in the earliest of the "Faceted Form Chair" brochures published in early 1959 but does show up in the later "Directional Contract Furniture" catalog from 1960.
The earliest reference I have to this leg base is in a April 1960 Peerless furniture ad which coincides with the March 1960 public release date of the Faceted Form Chairs.
Hope this answers your question
Jonathan

Thank you so much!
That was a huge help! I appreciate it very much.

Just purchased 2 of these rec...
Just purchased 2 of these recently at a yard sale. I was wondering if the base on mine are original. I have never seen a photo of this base online so I figured they were not original. Mine are also made of heavy steel.

mdcounts
I have seen that base before.

woodywood
Do you know if t...
woodywood
Do you know if the base is original? In straylight's post it was stated that the base was offered in 5 options.

I would expect so
I don't see any reason to not believe it to be original, but perhaps straylight has definitive information.

Woodywood
Thanks! I did an in depth search and I turned up a few photos with the base called a "spider" Until today I had never seen one with that base only the H type base or the swivel base so I assumed it was not original.
Anyway, thanks for the input!

Spider base
Yes this base is original. I have a photo of mine with this base on my Flickr.
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/29624070@N07/5079111963/in/set-72157617699443984

Bases
Does anyone know if the spacing on the mounts fit Herman Miller bases?

nope
The mountings don't match. I can take dimensions for you if you'd like.

here ya go.
Standard H-base next to my McCobb chair.

As a follower and critic
of Frank Lloyd Wrght's furniture, it is necessary to report that the word Origami has long been applied to his heavy "folded" plywood armchair, originally designed for use at the Taliesin West desert outpost. Below is the FLLW Foundation's representation of the chair; unmentioned is the date of design and the history of the appellation "Origami." I realize now that I don't have those facts; it is possible that, by 1960, Paul McCobb was aware of Wright's design and chose to leave him alone with the Origami name.
http://fllwfoundation.tumblr.com/post/43266946481/wright-designed-the-ta...

hmm...
Interesting theory.
I'd guess that the name probably just didn't occur to McCobb to call it Origami. How much control do you think he had over naming his furniture? Very few of his furniture pieces had any actual names to them.

According to an
earlier post, McCobb called his design "Faceted Form Chair," a very reasonable and unassuming name.
I don't believe that Mr Wright came up with the name Origami for his chair, either. People love to apply their own monikers to people and things; I have that tendency, apparently inherited from my dear departed Dad. I've always thought it an aspect of passive-agressive behavior . . .
I have a query posted at Wright Chat, to see if some of the known unknowns can be answered in re the 1949 Taliesin Origami Chair (?).