Here’s an easy one. This has to be one of the most copied chairs of all time. It’s the Eames molded fiberglass side chair for Herman Miller. The HM logo is embossed on the bottom of the fiberglass but I dunno if that’s true for every period of these. One of my local second hand shops had a set of them in hunter green that were in pretty good condition. The prices were fair but the lady mentioned she had some in the back that were in “rough” shape. Perfect.
As you can see, this is the upholstered version with the stacking base which is my favorite, for two reasons. First, I like the two-tone color scheme that’s sharply delineated by the black molded edge strip (the strip holds the stitching for the upholstery making it “invisible”). Second, there’s a layer of foam sandwiched between the vinyl and fiberglass that provides a surprisingly good amount of cushion. They are extremely well built with shock mounts for the legs, and the fiberglass flexes as you lean back into it, creating a comfortable chair. The plastic copies may look similar but there’s no comparison: the flex feels great, and fiberglass looks, well, glassy, and can develop an exaggerated checking texture over time. Here’s an example:
The problem that arises with the upholstery is that it’s fitted with adhesive which can loosen and cause bubbling. You can see it in the first photo where the stitching crosses in an X pattern, but it’s actually not as bad as it looks. I’m not exactly sure how to fix this and haven’t located a single case of someone attempting it. I’ve considered squeezing some adhesive between the seams with a syringe, then clamping a second chair over it to give shape. Haven’t tried it yet because the red chair doesn’t need it, but I have another to practice on some day.
Most people just remove bad upholstery and foam. If you see one of these in bare fiberglass and the bolt holes for the base are visible in the top of the seat, that means it was originally an upholstered chair. You can see the production process in this video:
Back to the red chair. Other than the obvious dirt ring on the seat, you can see the base is pretty rough and it’s missing a glide. Buying one-off parts like glides isn’t cheap, so I bought a second chair in green that had worse upholstery but a much better base and swapped. I’m in for $60 for the pair which is a steal considering what these normally sell for. My fears about the vinyl being destroyed by the dirt ring turned out to be unfounded. It scrubbed out with a stiff brush and some cleaner and the fiberglass polished up nicely, as did the base.
