I'm sure most of you know these - at the moment immensely popular - Eames fiber glass shell chairs. I particularly like the ones with a wooden dowel base. They show up everywhere lately - online as well as in magazines, even in TV shows. The first time I saw one of these chairs, I fell in love - it took me a little while to figure out they were Eames, that the real vintage ones are quite pricey and that you can find replica's quite easily in different price ranges depending on the materials used (just Google Eames DAW - the list is long). For a while I considered buying a replica, but I decided to wait, not convinced the poly-i-don't-know-what material would look the way I wanted, and next, I completely forgot about it.
That was until a couple of weeks ago, when little H. and I went to a 'brocante' market a couple of blocks away from where we live. Little H. had already found a new addition to her little animal statues collection (a tiny porcelain penguin) and we were about to return back home when I suddenly spotted this chair. It looked suspiciously like an Eames, but I wasn't sure if it really was since the base didn't look familiar to me. I asked the seller - which is stupid, he could have told me anything and I probably would have believed him, since I'm by no means a Eames DAW expert. It was an Eames, he showed me the signature stamp on the bottom, and gave his price. Even with one screw missing, it was really cheap compared to the prices I'd seen online. Was it too cheap to be real? I decided to risk it, after little H. had tested it and assured me it sat really well and so, off we went, with an Eames under my arm! Back home I searched online for almost the entire afternoon - I couldn't find the base anywhere, and I started doubting about my purchase. Turns out this base is rare and that's why I couldn't find it at first. It's actually an original Herman Miller La Fonda base as shown here!
Initially, I was thinking of maybe keeping the shell but replacing the base with a wooden dowel base, which is what a lot of people do, check out Ebay or even Etsy, but now I think I will stick to my very rare but beautiful Herman Miller La Fonda chrome base!
I really got to like the sleek lines and the minimalistic look of this base and I think it combines beautifully with the black slightly weathered fiber glass. I did find the fiber glass shell a bit cold to sit on, however, so I made a linen with leather squares pillow for it and I figured that's probably why almost always you find these fiber glass chairs depicted with a sheep skin, a throw or pillows on them - but no one of course would ever admit...
Oh, I feel so totally smitten with my Eames Fiber glass Herman Miller rare La Fonda base chair.