Eames Elephant (1945) Decoration - / L 78.5 cm - Plywood by Vitra Natural wood

Vitra Decoration Natural wood Wood. Dimensions: 78.5 × 41 cm x H 41.5 cm. Charles and Ray Eames are two of the most important designers of the 20th century. Their work includes furniture design, film and photography as well as exhibition design. Vitra is the only company with the authorisation to manufacture their products for Europe: if you own an Eames product manufactured by Vitra, you can be sure that it is an original. In the early 1940s, Charles and Ray Eames spent several years developing a technique for moulding plywooden into 3D shapes, thus creating a series of furniture and sculptures. Among these first models is the Elephant, created in 1945 and initially designed for children. This two-part sculpture proved to be the most technically demanding due to its complex curves, and so the object never reached serial production. One of the prototypes, which was given as a gift to Lucia Eames, Charles' 14-year-old daughter, was loaned to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for an exhibition in 1946. It remains in the possession of the Eames family. After a limited edition in 2007, Vitra has now launched for the first time serial production of a plywooden version of the legendary Eames Elephant. This decorative sculptural figure featuring a high-quality American Cherry veneer has been available since 2017.