My favorite line
My favorite line about Nelson is from the book Herman Miller Design. (and I may be paraphrasing a bit)
"The first time George Nelson met DJ DePree was in the hotel bar. DJ was astonished how many martini's George threw back and both men were horrified to learn what the other believed about the Bible."
Who is Plycraft?
Wouldn't that be the manufacturer of this delightful set that is now selling on ebay for almost 10 grand?
http://cgi.ebay.com/CHARLES-EAMES-MID-CENTURY-MODERN-LIVING-ROOM-SUITE-t...
yada, yada, yada ...
Eames, plycraft - plycraft, eames. What it really boils down to is: do you love the chair or piece, is it comfortable and visually appealing, are you a purist????
I have both an Eames lounger and a delightful Plycraft rosewood armchair with original pumpkin naugahyde. The status seeking part of my psyche loves the Eames but, the funky university student from the late 70's' cherishes the Plycraft she picked up at a swap meet for 10. bux and held on to through children, multiple moves (career, relationship etc). Many times I've had a prospective buyer through my front door looking to purchase whatever MCM goodies I've hawked on etsy or craigslist only to have them stop dead in their tracks and gawk unabashedly at the pumpkin plycraft languishing in it's own bay window.
If I ever needed the money, I'd sell off the Eames but for pure esthetics, the Plycraft wins!
Plycraft in Canada
I purchased what appeared to be an Eames lounger and ottoman on Saskatoon kijiji for $60. When I arrived at the home of the owner I soon discovered that it was actually a Plycraft. The original "Products and Materials Used" tag was still attached and Plycraft was printed in bold letters. The owner went on to say that he purchased the set when he was in college back in the early 70'sand at that time he had paid alot of money for it. The chair had the original brown leather and the moulded plywood was in pristine condition. The chair has noticeable differences such as exposed bolts underneath the armrests, wood plugs to cover screws to hold the pads in place and the base is crome plated. The chair also offers a tilting spring which I really like. You get the option to recline or rock which will come in hady when children come into the picture. I have original eames rocker and I honestly could not imagine myself nursing nor my husband rocking anything to sleep in that rocker. Thankfully we won't have to sacrifice style for comfort. Needless to say, I had the chair recovered in black leather and it's absolutly beautiful. Don't get me wrong when I thought I had purchased on original I was stoked, not because of a status need but to have found an original lounger and ottoman in Saskatoon, Sask. I know what thier worth and don't have the kind of money like that and I'm not so good at saving so I will have no problem keeping my Plycraft. Besides there's alot of history behind it
a while
Back There was a listing on craigslist for two Plycraft chairs and if memory serves me correctly they had that exact side table. I contacted them and asked about the table as I did not know Plycraft produced any. They said they were certain it was Plyacraft as the relative who owned the items had passed away and worked for Plycraft. Probably does not help you much as it is just word of mouth. i will try and dig theough my emails and see if I can find them. If I do, I will contact them and see if they still have the pics from the add.
Current owners of Plycraft
Plycraft was purchased by American Atelier Inc in the 1970's. AAI is the largest manufacturer of high end hotel furniture that still produces everything in the United States. They currently only make the Eames Chair and Cherner Chair out of the Plycraft Catalog.
You can actually see these in their online catalog http://www.americanatelierinc.com/aai_catalog/pdf/aai_chair5_catalog.pdf
At this time they aren't planning on offering the balance of the Plycraft catalog, but we keep asking. Especially the Mulhauser chair.
By the way Hyatt hotels has recently started using the Eames Chair in some of their Hyatt's and Hyatt Regency's. These are in fact all made of the original Plycraft molds and machinery.
http://www.americanatelierinc.com/upload/hyatt_morristown.pdf
logo or marking for plycraft
Can anyone tell me the trick to verifying a Plycraft Lounge? I seem unable to locate a logo or marking of any kind. Did Plycraft have a marking, and if so, what was it and where would it have been placed on the lounge chair. If not, are there other identifiable traits that might help me in confirming the maker on this piece?
The only thing I've ever seen
was that paper label that you're not supposed to remove or else you'll go to jail (not really). They were usually not stapled down completely and the corners would stick up, so probably people tore them off.
I just look for the screws on the outer shell. The platform armrests are definitely a mark of Plycraft though they also did a curved armrest that was upholstered by wrapping the vinyl or leather around to the underside (no welt, no boxing).
I can never remember what the deal is with chairs of the same design made by Selig, though. I'm pretty sure we discussed it here a few years back.
CFA and Plycraft
I am a huge fan of mid century modern and recently purchased a Lounge and ottoman set that has me stumped. The wood on the chair is veneered rosewood and the design looks like the eames lounge and ottoman. The chair has a label that clearly says manufactured by CFA lic# 598. The chair only has four stainless legs not five. It is also minus the rubber bumper between the wood and steel brace. It also rocks. It very well built . Worthpoint shows a chair exactly like mine, marked CFA lic # 598 and identify it as a Eames/Miller chair. Based on everything that have read that is not the case. I did see a blog that stated that Plycraft may have changed their name from CFA in the 50's.
Can anyone out there help me figure this out?
thx,
pam
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