Eames EA178 Arm Chair, Eames Loose Cushion Arm Chair

Quick Intro

What is an Eames EC178 Loose Cushion arm chair?

Essentially an adaptation of the original fiberglass plastic arm chair, the Eames EA178 Arm Chair was released to the market in 1971 and was aimed primarily at the workplace market. This versatile eames chair was coded EC178 but soon coined the name ’Loose Cushion Chair’ due to being the only fiberglass chair to have a separate and removable seat cushion.

The 1970’s saw a shift in the focus of Herman Miller towards commercial and workplace orientated furniture. This included re-focus and re-coding of older Eames designs and those created at the time, including the Loose Cushion Arm Chair. The new wave of these commercial minded products was given a product code beginning with EC rather than the old traditional abbreviations.

The chair was sold for a variety of uses including desk work, lobby or conference room use as well as a full tilting and adjustable lounger (coded EC176). Using the ‘universal base’ which was first seen on the Time Life Chair in the early 60s and brought into the Alu Group in 1968, was a first for the plastic series chairs.

The Eames Loose Cushion Arm Chair was made using a new process of fiberglass and urethane foam and fully upholstered in a range of fabrics and vinyls from Herman Miller. The number of shell colors had also been reduced by this period and it was only ever issued in three choices, Dark Tone (Black) Light Neutral (Off White) and Parchment (White).

Other period designs released with the Loose Cushion Chair included the EC430 range of side and EC432 arm work chairs, the EC228 secretarial chair and the EC127 two-piece plastic DCMU. There were no generation changes for this chair design.

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Specification

What are the sizes of the EA178 Loose Cushion Arm Chair?

Height	30-32”	74.93-76.20 cm
Width	26”	66.04 cm
Depth	28”	71.12 cm
Seat Height	16-18”	40.64-45.72 cm

What was the EA178 Loose Cushion arm chair made of?

Top	Molded Plastic Zenaloy (fiberglass re-enforced plastic), foam & upholstery
Base	Cast Alu Universal Base
Feet	Castors or glides

Buying Tips and Authenticity

Is my EA178 Eames Loose Cushion Arm Char real? What makes it valuable?

The Loose Cushion Arm Chair has never been copied as far as we can ascertain so should be authentic.
The same labels and stamps can be found as on all plastic chairs.
The chair should be on a universal base if it is fully original, it was not sold on the contract base.
The chair was only available fully upholstered & tends to be found upholstered in Naugahyde and hopsack fabrics more suited to the workplace. It is not known to have been made in any of the Girard special fabric designs.
The chair should have the loose cushion, often upholstered in the same fabric as the chair body, but occasionally in complimentary style.

This chair tends to be quite affordable in the secondary marketplace as demand is relatively low.
The most valuable version tends to be the full tilting, height adjustable version.
Always check the condition of the upholstery - rips, tears, edging and above all, lifting, will impact on the value of the chair
There is negligible value difference between the three color variants the chair was made in
There is no difference between the glide and castor version when it comes to value and the universal base can take either option in any case.

Images

Pair of blue Eames EA178 Loose Cushion Arm Chairs with universal base & floor glides

Universal base used for the EA178 Loose Cushion Arm Chair fitted with floor glides

Black EA178 Eames Loose Cushion Arm Chair from the rear showing tilting torsion bar

Universal base used for the EA178 Loose Cushion Arm Chair fitted with castors