"Catalogue raisonné"
(French) A systematic and comprehensive annotated listing of all works of a creator in a particular medium or all media. Provides essential information by which individual works are identified.
This is an ambitious project which will take many years to complete and to which we hope many will contribute. One day we will show on the website examples of every type, style, and variation of each piece of furniture designed by Charles and Ray Eames.
For the first 100 plus pages in the Eames Catalogue Raisonne we have JOEL CHEN of JF CHEN to thank. Joel had the vision to assemble a scholar's collection of every principal Eames design, and the generosity to pay for the special Catalogue Raisonne photography so that we can share these pages with you. The currently posted photography was done in two phases, part one, at the JF Chen warehouse, and part two, at Exhibit C, a new space on Highland Avenue, adjacent to C LOFT, Joel's gallery at 961 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. www.jfchen.com
We also thank Grant Taylor of Santa Fe, NM, for the Catalogue Raisonne photography. Mr. Taylor taught the "Art of Photographing Art" at the Parsons School of Design. One of his first jobs was in Los Angeles, working on a special photography project for the Eames Office in 1977. www.suncloudproductions.com.
The contents of the Vintage Eames pages, including these Catalogue Raisonne pages, are copyrighted by The Eames Office, including the images and the text, and are not to be reproduced in any media, including other websites, without the express written permission of The Eames Office.
Presently the catalogue raisonne listings are in random order on the right hand side of this page, in list form, in a column headed "eames furniture raisonne: worksheets." You can access the pages, one page per design, by clicking on each name individually.
Please check back regularly—we are continuously updating these pages, and will eventually have them posted chronologically and according to the type of design.
We will use the term "worksheet" for our entries until we are completely confident of all the information. We have much to learn. With many Catalogue Raisonne's the authors will labor alone for ten years only publishing their results when their work is complete. We have decided to share the EAMES CATALOGUE RAISONNE as a work-in-progress. This gives you, our guests, valuable information immediately; something can be learned even from an incomplete listing. In addition, by publishing these worksheets on line we are encouraging all of you to send in information that you have which will complete the picture. Soon we will post a form on line for this purpose.
Much work is involved to make this a truly complete resource. For example, there are at least 125 differently purposed chairs based around the Eames fiberglass arm shell. There are also at least 125 differently purposed chairs using the Eames fiberglass side shell!
That's 250 entries with just those two chairs and that number grows exponentially when we acknowledge the fact that each of these chairs had differences, often from one year to the next. A DAX is a DAX whether it has an "x-base" or an "h-base" yet we plan, in the Catalogue Raisonne, to provide a guide and a nomenclature for all distinctive versions as they were introduced over time. For example, the Catalogue Raisonne will separately identify an "x-base DAX" as one entry, and an "h-base DAX" as another entry.
Glides are another historical variation and now, with Herman Miller's introduction of the 21st century DAX, there have been a total of FIVE different DAX glides. The catalogue raisonne will show each version eventually with clear and easy to identify close ups.
We will update the text descriptions and upgrade photographs as they become available, and each month, we will post a few more examples.