The Eames Time Life Stools were marketed adaptations of stools by Ray Eames, used in conjunction with the Lobby Lounge Chair, as a commissioned product for the Time Life Building in Manhattan, New York in 1960. Made from solid Walnut, the almost sculptural appearance of the Time Life Stools belies the very multi functional nature of this most clever and endearing piece.
It is not lost on us that Herman Miller actually marketed these as tables but they were much more than that. Standing aside the Lobby Chairs in the Time Life building, the Eames Time Life Stools were very much used as such, but the concave top meant they were also comfortable short term seating too. The designs of the stools were sculptural and it could be said they resemble the hour glass sand timer to a degree.
The early versions of the Eames Time Life Stools were turned on a lathe using a solid piece of Walnut. Skill and precision was required in order to get the absolute mirrored shape of the center section. Into the 1990's and the efficiency of modern production was utilized and the stools became 3 pieces, still using solid walnut, but held together using a dowel through the inside.
There was actually 4 stool designs initially made for the Time Life building but only 3 were put into production for the general market. These were initially given the model numbers 0411, 0412 and 0413. These were later changed to Model Variation A, B and C. It is believed that the reason the 4th variation design of the stool didnt go into production was because the central section was not mirrored equally like the other 3 and would be more difficult to produce. Original examples from the Time Life installation do sometimes materialize along with other prototypes including double size variants.
| Height | 15" | 38.10 cm |
| Top Diameter | 13" | 33.02 cm |
| Bottom Diameter | 11" | 27.94 |
The early stools were turned on a lathe using a single piece of Walnut. Later stools were put together with three separate pieces, the top, bottom and the center. In both cases the wood used is American Walnut.
A nice pair of original Herman Miller stools, one is model 0412 (B) and the other 0413 (C) (image courtesy of Circa Modern)
All 3 marketed versions of the Walnut Stool in order of 0413 (C), 0412 (B) and 0411 (A)
1961 Herman Miller catalog page featuring the Time Life Series including stool 0413 (model C)
1964 Herman Miller Catalog Specifications including beautiful hand drawn diagrams of the stools
Side on profile view of the Time Life Stool center and top section showing the mirrored design