Welcome to another blog post! This week’s blog post will be dedicated to the Chaise Longue section in our online wiki.
This is a very unique piece and it is almost always likely to spark up a conversation as it proved during the Berlin, Belgium and Amsterdam shows that we attended earlier on in the year.
In the 40s, Charles Eames hand molded the Eames Chaise Longue. He was evidently quite the expert in comfortable chairs as he is well known for creating several which you may already know. The Two Chaise Longue chair types that were released was the ES-106 ‘Billy Wilder’ Chaise and the La Chaise.
This piece was released in 1968 and an interesting fact about this seating was that it was created mainly for power naps as opposed to long hours of snoozing!
While you are sleeping with your arms on your chest (recommended way of napping on this seating), just before you hit the deep sleep phase, when your arms start to fall, you will wake up and this will indicate you’ve had a short nap.
It’s known as the Eames ‘Billy Wilder’ Chaise and it was later known as the model H106. The upholstery was made from Best Aucht Leather, aniline leather and some hopsack textiles and it has a height of 28.75” and a Width of 75”.
This was the first Eames Chaise to be designed, which was in 1948. It has a height of 34.5” and a width of 59”.
The top made from Molded 2-part Fiberglass, later Injection molded Polyurethane, this seating was not to be put into production until another 40 years of it being designed.
Although this chair was not released in the lifetime of Charles and Ray Eames which means it was not a part of their portfolio, their initial design is recognized around the world even today and the model that was released after their passing, is a tremendous representation of their concept.
In terms of the Eames La Chaise, due to it being so popular, there have been many imitations of them that have been made which look identical.
To someone who is not an expert in identifying which one is authentic and which one is not, it can be difficult to spot the differences.
As a result, the La Chaise will usually have a Vitra Label in black and silver or white and black on the underside of the body. This label is what will make the piece valuable so keep a lookout for them!
The good thing about the ES106 Chaise Longue is that there are not many reproductions of this seating, and the ones that have been created to imitate the Billy Wilder Chaise, do not really look like the original and it’s easy to spot the differences.
However, to make sure you know what to look for when buying them at a high price, check for bumps on the frame and scratches in the paintwork. Ensure that the upholstery does not have any small or large cuts or tears and that the cushions are plump.
And that’s it! Now you have a little more insight about the Chaise Longue. We have more detailed information about the chairs themselves and their history in our Wiki segment, and we also have more information about different authenticity identification strategies.
We hope you enjoyed this week’s blog post.
Until next time, have fun browsing!