DSS
Stacking Chair
1950 (made)
1950 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
'DSS' stood for Dining (D) height, Side (S) chair, on Stacking (S) base and is a development of both the organic forms of the Eameses' plywood furniture from the 1940s and their designs for the Low Cost Furniture competition staged at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, in 1948. The Eameses were not alone in designing chairs made of new plastics, but they were the first to use the marble effect of the fibreglass strands to strengthen the polyester as a decorative effect, unashamedly celebrating the modernity of the design. Herman Miller documents from 1957 show that countless numbers were sold to stadiums, hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, clinics, government offices and the DSS helped, perhaps more than any model, to put the Eames plastic shell chairs into modern modern culture. The first chairs to be produced to this design were in more muted shades than later production.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | DSS (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Moulded glass-fibre seat with chromium-plated tubular steel leg frame |
| Brief description | Chair (one of six) designed by Charles Eames, 'DSS' stacking chair, manufactured by Hermann Miller, dark blue fibreglass shell on chromium-plated legs, 1950 |
| Physical description | A dark blue stacking chair with glass-fibre seat shell and chromium-plated tubular steel leg frame with linking feature on either side. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Mass produced |
| Object history | Purchased from the manufacturer |
| Production | Attribution note: There are six DSS stacking chairs in the museum collection, each with a different colour. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | 'DSS' stood for Dining (D) height, Side (S) chair, on Stacking (S) base and is a development of both the organic forms of the Eameses' plywood furniture from the 1940s and their designs for the Low Cost Furniture competition staged at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, in 1948. The Eameses were not alone in designing chairs made of new plastics, but they were the first to use the marble effect of the fibreglass strands to strengthen the polyester as a decorative effect, unashamedly celebrating the modernity of the design. Herman Miller documents from 1957 show that countless numbers were sold to stadiums, hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, clinics, government offices and the DSS helped, perhaps more than any model, to put the Eames plastic shell chairs into modern modern culture. The first chairs to be produced to this design were in more muted shades than later production. |
| Associated objects |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.397-1970 |
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| Record created | December 30, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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